Enhancing outcomes for PTSD treatment: Commentary on “treatment augmentation for posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review”

Comments on an article by O. Metcalf et al. (see record 2019-80348-001). Metcalf et al. review of augmentation approaches for the treatment of PTSD provides a valuable overview of some of the methods by which clinical researchers are hoping to improve the treatment of this complex and heterogeneous disorder. The review showcases the variety of approaches that have been tested; however, it also highlights the nascent status of this testing, as virtually all the adjunctive interventions that they examined were evaluated by only a single clinical trial. Given the preliminary nature of these augmentation trials, we offer some considerations that may be critical to moving the science forward in this important area. Specifically, effective PTSD treatment augmentation will require understanding patient variables that impact treatment outcomes, the mechanisms through which our primary treatments and augmentation strategies exert their effects, and how best to integrate those elements. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)