Can Interpersonal Trust Predict and Account for Symptom Change During Group Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD? An Investigation of the Iterated Trust Game.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Group cognitive processing therapy (GCPT) is frequently utilized to treat PTSD within the VA healthcare system, but its mechanisms are not well understood. Interpersonal trust could be an important change process in GCPT given its relevance to group-based therapy and its role in CPT, but self-report measures are inadequate for capturing the dynamic interplay that defines interpersonal trust. Here, we examined the degree to which interpersonal could predict and account for PTSD symptom change in GCPT using the iterated trust game (ITG)-a behavioral task used to approximate real-world trust behavior.

Methods

Participants were Veterans with PTSD who participated in an effectiveness trial comparing a 12-week course of GCPT (n = 37) to a treatment-as-usual (TAU) waitlis

SUBMITTER: Williams MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12501833 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature