Efficacy and clinical utility (effectiveness) of treatments for adult victims of terrorist attacks: a systematic review

A review of the efficacy and clinical utility (effectiveness) of the treatments for mental disorders in adult victims of terrorism is presented. A search in PsycINFO, PILOTS and MEDLINE found eight studies, all of them on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): seven on trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy and one on exposure therapy in combination with a selective inhibitor of serotonin reuptake, but none on other medications, other non-cognitive-behavioral psychological therapies or other mental disorders. The results of this review suggest that: (a) trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy is not only efficacious and useful in clinical practice for the treatment of PTSD in victims of terrorism, but also currently the therapy of choice, and (b) future research should develop, adapt and test treatments for other mental disorders that victims of terrorism may suffer from (e.g., depressive and anxiety disorders, complicated grief) and for victims of non-developed, non-Western countries that are the countries that suffer most from terrorism.