N. Tarrier et L. Humphreys, Subjective improvement in PTSD patients with treatment by imaginal exposure or cognitive therapy: Session by session changes, BR J CL PSY, 39, 2000, pp. 27-34
A self-rating scale, the Subjective Symptom Checklist (SSC) was developed t
o assess PTSD patients' perception of their symptoms between treatment sess
ions. Reliability and validity of the scale were acceptable. The scale was
used in a treatment trial comparing the efficacy of cognitive therapy versu
s imaginal exposure. Conventional pre-post treatment comparisons using stan
dardized assessments showed no differences between the two treatments. Howe
ver, when patients who failed to respond to treatment were excluded, group
treatment effects became apparent. Patients who received imaginal exposure
showed a significantly greater reduction in subjective ratings of their sym
ptoms than did those who received cognitive therapy. It was cautiously conc
luded that although some PTSD patients could not tolerate exposure, those w
ho could may receive greater subjective benefit than those who received cog
nitive therapy.