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Although post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children has been extensively studied during the past 15 years, little research exists regarding the efficacy of treatment interventions. This report describes an outcome-based art therapy research project currently conducted at a large urban hospital trauma center. Included are the theoretical rationale and overview of an art therapy treatment intervention called the Chapman Art Therapy Treatment Intervention (CATTI) designed to reduce PTSD symptoms in pediatric trauma patients. Used in this study, the CATTI was evaluated for efficacy in measuring the reduction of PTSD symptoms at intervals of 1 week, 1 month, and 6 months after discharge from the hospital. An early analysis of the data does not indicate statistically significant differences in the reduction of PTSD symptoms between the experimental and control groups. However, there is evidence that the children receiving the art therapy intervention did show a reduction in acute stress symptoms.
Chapman et al. (Mon,) studied this question.