Identifying profiles of post-treatment functioning among patients treated for psychotrauma related complaints

Abstract

Research in treatment outcomes shows that some patients seeking help following traumatic events do not improve or even become worse. Our understanding of this issue may improve if we include more measures in our outcome evaluation, moving beyond the current predominant focus on symptom measures. This study aimed to identify latent subgroups based on homogeneous outcome patterns across multiple outcome domains. Participants were patients with trauma-related complaints who had received trauma-focused therapy (N=224; 43% with tentative PTSD diagnosis). Treatment outcome was evaluated using the Brief Symptom Inventory scale (BSI), PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5), Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45), Cantril’s Anchoring Striving Scale (CLL) and Short Form-36 (RAND-36;SF-36). Latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed. A model with four different profiles of treatment outcomes was proposed: a poor daily functioning profile (30%), an overall positive outcomes profile (30%), an overall negative outcomes profile (33%) and a strong daily functioning profile (7%). With the preliminary results of distinctive profiles in treatment outcomes, the present study emphasizes the heterogeneity of psychological recovery, adds to the enhancement of clinical practice, and provides a springboard for future person-centered studies in treatment outcomes.