Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as an early intervention for PTSD in youth: preliminary efficacy and mechanisms of a

在发生可怕或危及生命的事件(如严重事故、暴力或自然灾害)后，儿童和青少年会像成年人一样患上创伤后应激障碍(PTSD)。创伤后应激障碍是一种严重的焦虑症，可能会对个人的功能造成重大破坏，如果不加以治疗，可能会持续数年甚至数十年。最近的研究表明，严重的早期创伤后应激障碍症状使青少年患上慢性创伤后应激障碍的风险很高。此外，研究还表明，这个年龄段的创伤后应激障碍的发展与某些心理过程有关，即他们对创伤的记忆，以及对创伤的特殊思考和应对方式。这一认识导致了青少年创伤后应激障碍的心理治疗的发展。这种治疗方法，认知行为疗法(CBT)，已被证明成功地治疗了儿童和青少年的慢性创伤后应激障碍。这项拟议的研究旨在研究CBT是否可能是创伤后最初几个月治疗创伤后应激障碍的有效方法，并更详细地调查哪些心理和生物过程导致年轻人早期创伤后应激障碍的发展。这项研究将告诉我们如何在早期最好地治疗年轻人的创伤后应激障碍。

Following horrific or life threatening events (e.g. serious accidents, violence, or natural disasters) children and adolescents can, like adults, develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a serious anxiety disorder that can cause major disruption to an individual's functioning, and if left untreated can persist for years or even decades. Recent research suggests that severe early PTSD symptoms put youth at high risk of developing chronic PTSD. Furthermore, it has been shown that that the development of PTSD in this age group is related to certain psychological processes, i.e. their memories of the trauma, and particular ways of thinking about and coping with the trauma. This understanding has led to the development of a psychological treatment for PTSD in youth. This treatment, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), has been shown to successfully treat chronic PTSD in children and adolescents. The proposed research seeks to examine whether CBT might be an effective treatment for PTSD in the first few months following a trauma, and investigate in greater detail which psychological and biological processes lead to the development of early PTSD in young people. This research will inform how PTSD in young people can be best treated at an early stage.