Evocation of positive memories as complement to trauma-focused cognitive–behavioural therapy for intimate partner violence against women
Creators: name: Crespo, María
name: Hernández-Lloreda, M. José
name: Hornillos, Carlos
name: Miguel-Alvaro, Alejandro
name: Sánchez-Ferrer, Silvia
name: Antón, Ana A.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Cancer
subject: Science Policy
subject: Mental Health
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: <b>Background:</b> Focusing on positive memories as a complement to trauma-focused interventions for intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) could contribute to enhancing the recovery from trauma with the development of a more integrated and emotionally modulated autobiographical narrative. <b>Objective:</b> To test the effectiveness of a trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) tailored for IPVAW that incorporates the evocation of positive memories. <b>Methods:</b> Female survivors of IPVAW entered a randomized controlled trial comparing trauma-focused CBT for IPVAW (CBT; <i>n</i> = 35) to a version that incorporates the evocation of positive memories (CBT-M+; <i>n</i> = 44) and to a waitlist (WL; <i>n</i> = 12) control group. Pre and post measures were obtained for: posttraumatic stress, meaning of trauma, affect, emotional regulation, associated symptoms, self-concept and overall functioning. <b>Results:</b> A total of 43.04% of women who entered treatment dropped out, without significant treatment differences. Pre–post changes were not significant for the WL; both treatments resulted in significant improvements, with good effect sizes, for posttraumatic stress (<i>g</i> = 0.78 and <i>g</i> = 1.00 for CBT and CBT-M+, respectively), meaning of trauma, affect, associated symptoms, self-concept and overall functioning, but not in emotional regulation. There were no significant differences between CBT and CBT-M+ in the direct comparisons; however, the effect sizes showed better effects of CBT for centrality of the IPVAW, whereas they favoured CBT-M+ for PTSD, depression, self-esteem and impairment measures. No clinically significant change was reached for the WL, while both treatments significantly reduced the percentage of women with PTSD and self-esteem problems; additionally, the percentage of women with depression and impairment problems in the CBT-M+ group was significantly decreased. <b>Conclusions:</b> Although there were few differences between both treatments, CBT-M+ seemed to have a greater effect, pointing to the potential of the inclusion of the evocation of positive memories that should be further researched. The study is the first in testing in a clinical setting the effect of adding the evocation of positive memories as a complement to a trauma-focused cognitive–behavioural therapy.We designed a trauma-focused cognitive–behavioural treatment tailored to women who have suffered intimate partner violence that incorporates the evocation of positive memories, and we examined its effectiveness.Although the effect of the incorporation of the evocation of positive memories seemed to be small, the data tended to favour it with respect to the version without such an evocation.These findings point to the potential of the evocation of positive memories in the treatment of trauma and to the need for further research. The study is the first in testing in a clinical setting the effect of adding the evocation of positive memories as a complement to a trauma-focused cognitive–behavioural therapy. We designed a trauma-focused cognitive–behavioural treatment tailored to women who have suffered intimate partner violence that incorporates the evocation of positive memories, and we examined its effectiveness. Although the effect of the incorporation of the evocation of positive memories seemed to be small, the data tended to favour it with respect to the version without such an evocation. These findings point to the potential of the evocation of positive memories in the treatment of trauma and to the need for further research.