| Seventeen adult women clients in psychotherapy with symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder served as subjects to test the efficacy of physical training as an adjunctive treatment to psychotherapy. Subjects were assigned to treatment and control conditions, with treatment subjects undertaking individually determined programs of physical training covering a period of 24 weeks. All subjects were in treatment over this period of time. Subjects were assessed at the beginning and at the conclusion of this period, using Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire, Derogatis' Symptom Checklist-90, and Secord and Jourard's Body Cathexis Scale. The treatment group of nine subjects also completed McKechnie's Leisure Activities Blank in order to facilitate the selection of fitness activities. Subjects were monitored for compliance by verbal report and by the report of fitness or sports instructors where this was possible. At the conclusion of post-testing, treatment subjects also participated in an interview to assess the experience of the program and to provide direction for future research. An analysis of covariance was performed on the data, with no statistically significant differences being found between the treatment and control groups on the scales of the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire, the Symptom Checklist-90, or the Body Cathexis Scale. Post-treatment interviews yielded qualitative information on the experience of the exercise program, and information from these interviews is discussed. Possible reasons for failing to find a significant treatment effect are discussed. Program compliance and history are discussed as significant moderating variables, and barriers to research design in a therapeutic setting are discussed. Directions for future research are delineated, including recommendations for the use of a larger pool of subjects, stronger use of monitoring, and integrating sport/exercise training more closely into treatment and research. Recommendations for the use of sport/exercise training in clinical practice are also included. |
