The effects of aerobic exercise on childhood PTSD, anxiety, and depression.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on childhood PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Fifteen participants, ages 14 to 17, who met DSM-IV Criteria for PTSD were recruited from an all female residential treatment center Participants engaged in an aerobic exercise program for 40 minutes, three times per week, for a total of 8 weeks. Measures included were the Children's PTSD Inventory, the UCLA Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index for DSM-IV, Children's Depression Inventory, and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Measures were administered twice at pre-intervention, again at mid-intervention, post-intervention, and at a one-month follow-up. This small n study utilized a staggered baseline, pre/post repeated measures design. Results of this study provided support for the positive effects of aerobic exercise on reducing PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Fewer participants met full criteria for PTSD after exercising. This research is a starting point toward satisfying the essential need to establish efficacious methods to treat PTSD and associated symptoms in child/adolescent populations.

Objective assessment of secondary trauma.

This study reports on the continued development of the Secondary Trauma Scale (STS) and the establishment of cutoff scores. Cutoff scores are unavailable for existing secondary trauma scales. Participants were 118 young adult volunteers who reported having had close and continued exposure to a person or persons who had been traumatized. Sub-samples were drawn from the initial pool, and these sub-samples showed mild to severe anxiety and depression along with problematic levels of intrusion and avoidance. STS scores of 38 or higher were associated with mild to severe anxiety and depression and with problematic intrusion and avoidance symptoms. It was suggested that at STS scores of 45 or higher, clinicians and researchers should be particularly concerned. The STS demonstrated strong psychometric characteristics and was significantly correlated with known measures of emotional distress and dissociation.