Art Therapy for Adolescents with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Pilot Study

This study examined the efficacy of an adjunctive traumafocused art therapy intervention in reducing chronic child posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in an inpatient psychiatric facility for youth. We compared 2 treatment conditions, each delivered in one 1-hour group sessions over 16 weeks: (a) a trauma-focused expressive art therapy protocol (TF-ART) and (b) a treatment-as-usual (TAU) control condition, the standard arts-and-craft-making activity used at the two participating facilities. Youths were randomized to either treatment condition, and assessed before and after treatment. The principal outcome measure was the severity of PTSD symptoms measured using the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index, administered as an interview. There was a significant treatment-by-condition interaction indicating that adolescents in the TF-ART condition had greater reduction in PTSD symptom severity than youths in the TAU condition. TF-ART was not found to be associated with more behavioral problems during the treatment period. Results indicate that TF-ART may be a promising adjunctive treatment for inpatient adolescents with PTSD symptoms.