Publications by authors named "Agnes van Minnen"

Self-referential negative memory bias contributes to depression and other psychiatric disorders. Co-morbidity between these disorders is highly common in clinical practice, but transdiagnostic predictors like negative memory bias are not well understood yet. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the predictive value of negative memory bias for long-term change in broad psychiatric problems.

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  • Trauma and post-traumatic stress play a significant role in voice-hearing, and trauma-focused therapy (TFT) may help, but previous research has been inconclusive.
  • The study aimed to evaluate the impact of TFT on voice-hearing in individuals with PTSD and psychosis, using daily questionnaires to assess changes over time.
  • Results indicated that TFT led to a significant reduction in voice-hearing compared to a waiting-list control group, with improvements in PTSD symptoms also correlated with reductions in voice-hearing.
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Objectives: Working alliance is considered an important determinant of outcome of psychotherapy. Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childhood abuse (CA-PTSD) may have challenges in building interpersonal relationships, including working alliance. Phase-based treatment provides an opportunity to strengthen alliance prior to trauma-focused treatment.

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Background And Objectives: Inhibitory Learning Theory (ILT) framework implies that in-session distress variability may promote extinction learning and thereby enhance exposure therapy efficacy. Thus far, research has mainly focused on in-session distress reduction. The aim of the current study was to assess whether in-session distress variability predicts next session PTSD symptom decline in PTSD patients receiving prolonged exposure (PE).

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Despite the availability of various treatment approaches for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), some patients do not respond to these therapies, and novel treatment approaches are needed. This study investigated the efficacy of mifepristone, a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, in treatment-resistant PTSD patients. Three patients with PTSD who were resistant to standard psychological and pharmacological treatments were prescribed mifepristone (600-1,200 mg/day) for 1 week.

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Recent studies indicated that Prolonged Exposure (PE) is safe and effective for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is unclear whether PE also leads to a reduction in comorbid diagnoses. Data from a large randomized controlled trial ( = 149) on the effects of three variants of PE for PTSD were used.

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  • Victims of physical/sexual violence often feel guilt and shame due to their defense responses, which can hinder their recovery and the effectiveness of trauma-focused treatments.
  • A study called the BLAME-LESS study is investigating whether psychoeducation about these defense responses can alleviate feelings of shame and guilt, thus improving participants' reception to trauma-focused therapy.
  • The study involves adolescents aged 12-18 with a history of trauma, comparing outcomes of a brief online psychoeducation program against a waiting-list control, while measuring impacts on PTSD symptoms, anxiety, depression, and readiness to disclose traumatic memories.
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  • The study aimed to explore how beliefs about memory related to dissociation impact trauma-focused treatment in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), particularly those with the dissociative subtype.
  • Researchers assessed PTSD symptoms and dissociative beliefs in a sample of 111 patients, finding that those with the dissociative subtype had higher levels of these beliefs before treatment, which decreased after trauma-focused therapy.
  • Contrary to initial expectations, the study concluded that higher levels of dissociation-related beliefs did not adversely affect treatment outcomes for PTSD patients.
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Background: The extent to which intensive trauma-focused treatment for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is also effective in treating comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD) remains unclear.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that brief intensive trauma-focused therapy for PTSD is associated with significant reductions in depressive symptoms and loss of diagnostic status of MDD.

Methods: A total of 334 adult patients with PTSD (189 patients who were also diagnosed with MDD) underwent a brief intensive trauma-focused treatment programme consisting of EMDR therapy, prolonged exposure, physical activity, and psychoeducation.

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Background: Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often experience sexual disturbances.

Objective: To determine whether intensive trauma-focused treatment is associated with an improvement in sexual functioning (i.e.

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Introduction: This randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of physical activity added to an intensive trauma-focused treatment (TFT) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in comparison to adding non-physical control activities.

Methods: A total of 119 patients with PTSD were randomly assigned to a physical activity condition (PA; = 59) or a non-physical activity control condition (nPA; = 60). The 8-day intensive TFT programme consisted of daily prolonged exposure, EMDR therapy, and psychoeducation, which was complemented with physical activities versus controlled mixtures of guided (creative) tasks.

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Prolonged exposure (PE) is an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study aimed to analyse the cost-effectiveness of three exposure-based treatments in patients with childhood abuse-related PTSD. A net-benefit analysis was conducted alongside a pragmatic randomized controlled trial with participants (= 149) randomized to three conditions: PE (48), intensified PE (i-PE, = 51), and phase-based PE [Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) + PE, = 50].

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Background: Exposure-based therapy is the treatment of choice for anxiety disorders, but many patients do not benefit sufficiently from it. Distressing images of threat related to the future or past may maintain the anxiety symptomatology or impede exposure therapy. An intervention that targets threat-related imagery is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

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  • The study investigates how changes in negative posttraumatic cognitions may help reduce PTSD symptoms in patients undergoing Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy, particularly those with a history of childhood abuse.
  • By analyzing data from 83 patients at different treatment stages, the research shows that improvements in posttraumatic cognitions predict subsequent decreases in PTSD symptoms, rather than the other way around.
  • The findings support the idea that addressing negative cognitions is crucial in PE therapy and suggest using the abbreviated Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI-9) to monitor these cognitive changes over time.
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Concern for symptom exacerbation and treatment drop-out is an important barrier to the implementation of trauma-focused therapy (TFT), especially in people with a psychotic disorder. This study, which was part of a multicenter randomized controlled trial, investigated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom exacerbation during eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and prolonged exposure (PE) in a sample of 99 participants with PTSD and psychosis. Symptom exacerbations during the first four sessions (early exacerbation) and between-session exacerbations over the course of therapy were monitored using the PTSD Symptom Scale-Self Report.

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  • This study, RE.PROCESS, aims to compare the effectiveness of cognitive restructuring (CR), prolonged exposure (PE), and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) as trauma-focused therapies for individuals with psychotic disorders and PTSD against a waiting list control group.
  • * The trial will include 200 participants aged 16 and older who meet specific diagnostic criteria, and they will receive 16 sessions of one of the therapies alongside their usual psychosis treatment.
  • * The primary goal is to evaluate changes in PTSD symptoms over time, while secondary objectives look at symptom severity at different points and the presence of PTSD diagnosis.
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Background: Interventions aimed at easing negative moral (social) emotions and restoring social bonds - such as amend-making and forgiving-have a prominent role in the treatment of moral injury. As real-life contact between persons involved in prior morally injurious situations is not always possible or desirable, virtual reality may offer opportunities for such interventions in a safe and focused way.

Objective: To explore the effects of the use of deepfake technology in the treatment of patients suffering from PTSD and moral injury as a result of being forced by persons in authority to undergo and commit sexual violence (so-called ).

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Objective: Discontinuities in memory are the hallmark symptoms of most dissociative disorders but are also reported by patients diagnosed with related disorders, including PTSD. Memory discontinuity is most evident in dissociative identity disorder (DID), where patients may report amnesia in 1 identity for information available in other identities (i.e.

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There is growing evidence that change in distress is an indicator of change during Prolonged Exposure (PE) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, temporal sequencing studies investigating whether change in distress precedes PTSD symptom decline are lacking. These studies are essential since the timeline between indicators of change and treatment outcome is a key assumption for mediation.

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Background: Differences in effectiveness among treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are typically small. Given the variation between patients in treatment response, personalization offers a new way to improve treatment outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify predictors of psychotherapy outcome in PTSD and to combine these into a personalized advantage index (PAI).

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  • Evidence-based treatments for PTSD may not perform as well for patients with Complex-PTSD (CA-PTSD), prompting a study to compare three versions of prolonged exposure therapy.
  • 149 adults with CA-PTSD were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: standard Prolonged Exposure, intensified Prolonged Exposure, or a phase-based approach combining skills training with exposure therapy.
  • All treatments showed significant improvements in PTSD symptoms over time, with intensified treatments leading to quicker symptom reductions initially, but no substantial differences in long-term effectiveness among the groups.
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: Home-based psychotherapy delivered via telehealth has not been investigated in the context of intensive trauma-focused treatment for individuals with severe or Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). : To examine the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of an intensive treatment programme containing prolonged exposure, EMDR therapy, physical activities and psycho-education, delivered via home-based telehealth. : The treatment was carried out within four consecutive days during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  • The study investigates the effectiveness of trauma-focused treatment for patients with severe PTSD, specifically examining the impact of somatoform dissociative symptoms on treatment outcomes.
  • Researchers included 220 patients undergoing a combination of EMDR therapy and prolonged exposure therapy, tracking PTSD and somatoform dissociative symptoms at various stages of treatment.
  • Results showed that both high and low levels of somatoform dissociation led to significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and declines in somatoform dissociative symptoms, suggesting that strong dissociative symptoms do not require a different treatment strategy.
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Background And Objectives: We described a new treatment model for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), based on cognitive-behavioural principles. In this model, dissociation is seen as a maladaptive avoidant coping strategy. In addition, we stress that patients have dysfunctional beliefs about dissociation.

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