Rape Survivors Who Rely on Avoidant Coping May Respond Better to Exposure-Based Treatment

One of the hardest things to predict in psychotherapy is how well someone will respond to a particular treatment. A brief report in an upcoming issue of Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology by Leiner and colleagues offers some insight into this question. The researchers look at the impact of avoidant coping on PTSD treatment.

What’s Avoidant Coping?

As defined in this article, avoidant coping involves attempts to reduce or block out distress and discomfort. Although not directly referenced in this article, there’s an interesting research literature that suggests avoidance behaviors may maintain PTSD symptoms over time, and that reliance on these strategies is related to greater PTSD symptom severity above and beyond the severity of the original trauma (see...