Evaluating traumatic incident reduction therapy with female inmates: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Objective: An experimental outcome study with trauma-related symptoms was c onducted to examine the effectiveness of traumatic incident reduction (TIR) . It is a brief; memory-based therapeutic intervention and was used to trea t symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) depression, anxiety and low expectancy of success (ie., low self-efficacy). Method: A randomized p retest-posttest control group design with 123 female inmates in a federal p rison was used to evaluate the efficacy of the interventive procedure. The Post-Traumatic Symptom Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Clinical A nxiety Scale, and the Generalized Expectancy of Success Scale were administ ered at pretest, posttest, and 3-month follow-up rime intervals. Results: A repealed-measures MANOVA showed significant differences between the treatm ent and comparison control conditions on all measures at posttest and follo w-up time intervals except for the PTSD Intrusion subscale at the posttest interval. Conclusion: The marked improvement of the treatment condition by comparison to those in the control condition supports the contention that T IR is an effective intervention with female inmates. The significant result s on all measures at the follow-up time interval provide persuasive evidenc e of the stability of the interventive effects. The significance of this th erapy model for use by practitioners with social work populations is highli ghted.