Page 79 - Post-traumatic stress disorder in adults with mild intellectual disability: Screening, assessment, and brief intensive EMDR therapy

Brief intensive EMDR therapy for PTSD
follow-ups. Additionally, we expect that most participants who met the
diagnostic criteria for PTSD at pre-treatment will lose their diagnostic status
post-treatment and that the intervention will reduce the use of involuntary
care in adults with MID-BIF. Furthermore, we expect that EMDR therapy will
not be associated with adverse events.
Methods
Design
A non-concurrent multiple baseline between-subjects design (Coon &
Rapp, 2018) was used to investigate the effectiveness of intensive EMDR
therapy with rotating therapists in 11 adults with MID-BIF and behavioural
problems on the severity of PTSD symptoms, PTSD diagnostic status,
adaptive behaviour, frequency and severity of behavioural problems,
and the use of involuntary care measures. The design contained 11
AB (A = baseline phase; B = post-intervention phase and follow-up
measurements) experiments in which participants were randomly assigned
to baseline lengths of five, six or seven weeks. The person conducting
the randomisation was masked to participants’ identity. The intervention
phase consisted of a maximum of two weeks, during which EMDR therapy
was administered eight times a week from Monday to Thursday. After the
completion of EMDR therapy, there was a three-week post-intervention
phase, followed by three follow-up measurements (six weeks, nine weeks
and four months after the intervention).
Participants and setting
Adults with MID-BIF (IQ 50-85) living in supported housing of an ID care
service in the Netherlands (‘s Heeren Loo) who were on the waiting list for
EMDR therapy were informed of the study by the first author. The inclusion
criteria were that the participants were diagnosed with MID or BIF, were
at least 18 years old, met the DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria for PTSD, had
severe behavioural problems classified as Care Intensity Level (in Dutch:
Zorg Zwaarte Pakket; ZZP) 7, which represents eligibility for the highest
level of care intensity according to the Dutch healthcare authority, indicating
the need for intensive support due to severe behavioural problems as
described in their client files), and had sufficient Dutch language ability.
4
77