Open Access

REVIEW

The Effectiveness of Psychotherapy on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Soldier: A Systematic Review

Wencen Lan, Bin Wang^*, Gai Li, Jianming Liu
School of Physical Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China
* Corresponding Author: Bin Wang. Email:

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2024.052309

Received 29 March 2024; Accepted 16 May 2024; Published online 25 June 2024

Abstract

The objective of this systematic review is to examine the effectiveness of psychotherapy in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in military personnel. PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, EBSCO and CNKI databases were searched from 1 January, 2000 to November 2022 for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) on psychotherapeutic interventions for military PTSD. The physical Therapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to evaluate the quality of the literature. Two researchers conducted literature screening, data extraction, and risk bias assessment in accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria. Ultimately, 49 RCTs were included, involving a total of 5073 veterans, retired and active military from four countries. The average score on the PEDro scale was 7.60. The primary psychotherapeutic modalities for military PTSD intervention include Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Exposure Therapy, Mindfulness interventions, psychotherapy based on new technological tools, and other emerging psychotherapeutic tools. The review highlights that Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET) stand out as the primary psychotherapeutic modalities for treating PTSD in military personnel. In cases where CPT and PET yield limited benefits, Mindfulness interventions emerge as effective alternatives. Moreover, considering the diverse needs and high dropout rates in the military, population, the review suggests using web-based, computer, and virtual reality technology tools as supplements to first-line treatments (CPT/PET) to enhance overall intervention effectiveness. For the advancement of future psychotherapeutic initiatives, there is a pronounced emphasis on prioritizing proven first-line interventions, CPT and PET while also recognizing the potential of mindfulness-based interventions as credible alternatives. In tandem with this, the active integration of technological tools is advocated to amplify the therapeutic impact of conventional psychological treatment modalities.

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Keywords

Soldiers; psychotherapy; cognitive behavior therapy; exposure therapy; post-traumatic stress disorder; mindfulness intervention

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