Investigating the Effectiveness of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) on Children with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Traffic Accident)

The study aim was to investigate Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) EMDR therapy on children with post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) in traffic accidents. The research population consists of children 7-11 years old in Tehran city who are surviving serious traffic accidents in 2014 that after screening 20 patients selected as sample who had the highest prevalence PTSD and divided into two groups of 10 patients randomly that the first group, called control group and second group was experimental group. The tools used in the study were anxiety depression scale and 42- DASS stress scale that had good convergent and discriminative validity and reliability by Cronbach’s alpha for the subscales depression, anxiety and stress at an acceptable level 0.91, 0.84 and 0.84 calculated, respectively. At first, 42- DASS test performed in the experimental and control group and then experimental group treated by Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR), re-test in both groups was performed, and the results were analyzed. However, there is no significant difference between the two groups in terms of anxiety. As a result, it stated that EMDR therapy has been effective on depression and stress in children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).