Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), broadly, is one of the leading evidence-based treatments for youth with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Generally, few culturally adapted trauma-focused CBT interventions have been examined among war trauma-affected populations in low- and middle-income countries. Using a randomized clinical trial design, a total of forty-eight war trauma-exposed women in Iraq [Mage (SD)= 32.91 (5.33)] with PTSD were randomly assigned to either TF-CBT or wait list control (WLC) conditions. The intervention group received 12 individual weekly sessions of a culturally-adapted TF-CBT intervention. Significant reductions in PTSD symptom severity were reported by women in the TF-CBT condition from pre- to posttreatment. Women in the TF-CBT condition reported significantly greater reductions in PTSD symptoms compared to WLC at one-month follow-up. Additionally, levels of depression, anxiety, stress and use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies were significantly lower in the TF-CBT condition at posttreatment and one-month follow-up, compared to the WLC condition. Women in the TF-CBT condition also reported significant improvements in various domains of quality of life at posttreatment and one-month follow-up. This clinical trial provides preliminary cross-cultural support for the feasibility and efficacy of TF-CBT for the treatment of PTSD symptoms among women in non-Western cultures. Future directions and study limitations are discussed.
