In a head-to-head trial, both Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) led to improvements on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnostic measures by three-month follow-up.

Specifically, 86–95.0% of children who had been treated with EMDR were diagnosis free after three months, compared with 87 to 89% of children who had been treated with CBT (figures varied by informant, whether self- or parent-report), with no significant differences between the two treatments.

At one-year follow-up, even more children were diagnosis free. By self-report, 100% of EMDR children and 92% of CBT children were diagnosis free after one year, with no significant difference between the two groups.

But by parent report, there was a statistically significant difference favouring EMDR, with 100% of children who received this treatment being diagnosis free, compared to 88% of those who received CBT.

Beyond diagnoses, both EMDR and CBT also reduced PTSD symptoms at three-month and one-year follow-ups, with no significant difference between the two treatments. In sum, both treatments were effective, with EMDR showing only one statistically significant benefit over CBT — greater reductions in PTSD diagnostic rates by parent report at one-year follow-up. Table 4 summarizes these outcomes. For more information, see Vol. 15, No. 2 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.