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Measuring the Impact of Trauma-Focused, Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy with Middle School Students

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Abstract

This study examines differential effects of the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program on behavioral and academic outcomes of middle school students. Researchers administered screenings to grade 6 students to assess traumatic stress and then randomized those with elevated levels to the CBITS treatment (n = 150; 47% female) or comparison group (n = 143; 53% female). Analyses examined the overall impact of CBITS and differential effects among subpopulations of students who reported clinically significant externalizing (n = 75; 67% female) or internalizing behavior (n = 185; 53% female) at baseline. Overall, students who received CBITS reported significantly reduced post-traumatic stress symptoms and marginally significant improvements in internalizing symptoms. Relative to counterparts in the comparison group, students exhibiting externalizing behaviors in the CBITS group reported significantly reduced post-traumatic stress, dissociation, anger, internalizing and total behavior problems, and also significantly improved scores on a standardized literacy assessment at posttest and follow-up. Students with internalizing behavior problems showed differential academic effects at 1-year follow-up; those in CBITS did significantly better on standardized math tests.

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Notes

  1. Out of the total 550 students screened, the group of 296 students who consented to participate in the study had similar gender composition to the group of 254 students who did not participate. However, there was a higher proportion of Hispanic students and a lower proportion of Asian students in the study sample when compared to the group that screened as eligible.

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  1. Center for Learning and Development, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA

    W. Carl Sumi, Michelle W. Woodbridge, Xin Wei & S. Patrick Thornton

  2. Two Chairs Behavioral Health Group, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Katrina D. Roundfield

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  1. W. Carl Sumi
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Sumi, W.C., Woodbridge, M.W., Wei, X. et al. Measuring the Impact of Trauma-Focused, Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy with Middle School Students. School Mental Health 13, 680–694 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-021-09452-8

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