Effectiveness of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy on Emotional Reactivity and Neurovascular Symptoms in Women With PTSD
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Objective: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in women is often accompanied by intense emotional reactivity and psychosomatic symptoms, including neurovascular dysfunction. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has demonstrated efficacy in reducing trauma-related cognitive and physiological responses. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of EMDR in reducing emotional reactivity and neurovascular symptoms in women with PTSD.
Methods and Materials: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was applied. Eighteen women diagnosed with PTSD based on DSM-5 criteria were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to experimental (n = 9) and control (n = 9) groups. The experimental group received eight weekly sessions of standard EMDR therapy. Emotional reactivity was assessed using the Emotional Excitability Scale (EES), and neurovascular symptoms were measured with selected items from the Cornell Medical Index. Statistical analysis was conducted using MANCOVA and ANCOVA.
Findings: EMDR significantly reduced both emotional reactivity and neurovascular symptoms. The multivariate test showed a strong treatment effect (Wilks’ Lambda = .259, F(2, 14) = 20.12, p< .001, η² = 0.741). ANCOVA revealed significant improvements in emotional reactivity (F= 18.45, p < .001, η² = 0.568) and neurovascular symptoms (F= 16.78, p < .001, η² = 0.545) in the experimental group compared to the control group.
Conclusion: EMDR therapy appears highly effective in alleviating both psychological and somatic distress in women with PTSD. These findings support its integration into trauma-informed clinical services targeting female survivors of trauma with co-occurring neurovascular symptoms.
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