Trauma First - an Outpatient, Cognitive-Behavioural Intervention for Children and Adolescents With Trauma-Related Disorders:a Pilot Study

Objective. Although traumatic experiences are one of the most important causes for psychiatric disorders in childhood and adulthood, trauma-specific intervention approaches are rarely applied in German outpatient clinics.The aim of the present pilot study was to evaluate a manualized, outpatient, cognitive-behavioural intervention programme ("Trauma First") for children and youths with trauma and stressrelated disorders. We hypothesized that there would be specific improvements in PTSD symptoms as well as in depression, anxiety, and behavioural problems following the structured intervention programme. Method: The pilot study consisted of a pre-post-test design without a control group. Symptom severity of 33 children and youths (age: 10-15 years; 54.5 % female) with traumatic experiences was assessed by selfratings and parent-ratings before and after the treatment. Results: After the treatment, improvements were found in children's PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and behavioural problems (Cohen's d: 0.51-1.49).A trend was found showing improvement of children's life satisfaction. Effect sizes were comparable with results from meta-analyses. Conclusions: The pilot study provided first evidence for the effectiveness of "Trauma First" under ecologically valid conditions. This study is a first step in the evaluation process of psychotherapeutic effectiveness, which should be continued by conducting a randomized-controlled study design.