Do post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms worsen during trauma focus group treatment?

Male inpatient veterans with chronic combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) participated in trauma focus group treatment and were assessed immediately before group participation and after group completion at time of discharge. Standard measures of core PTSD symptoms, depression, and anxiety were used. In addition, changes in PTSD symptoms were tracked on a weekly basis for the duration of group participation. Results indicated that a single direct elicitation of war-related traumatic memories in a group setting was not associated with symptom worsening. However, veterans also did not show improvement in symptoms severity. Possible reasons for this lack of impact are discussed along with implications for future treatment design and evaluation.