A therapist-guided web-based version of CBT should be considered a first-line treatment for patients with mild to moderate PTSD, UK researchers suggest.

Their recommendation is based on results from a non-inferiority trial that showed internet-based CBT with a trauma focus (CBT-TF) was just as effective as face-to-face counselling.

The Cardiff University-led team say their study consolidates previous work demonstrating the utility of this mode of therapy, including a 2021 Cochrane review that concluded it may be associated with “a clinically important reduction in PTSD”.

In a randomised controlled trial, the authors compared a web and app-based CBT-TF program dubbed Spring, which they had previously developed, against face-to-face sessions in 196 adults with mild to moderate PTSD linked to one traumatic event.