Narrative Exposure Therapy for Adults With an Intellectual Disability

April 28, 2026 updated by: University of Nottingham

Acceptability and Feasibility of an Adapted Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) Protocol for Individuals With an Intellectual Disability

The goal of this naturalistic single case series design is to investigate if an adapted Narrative Exposure Therapy protocol can be effective, is feasible, and acceptable for adults with a mile learning disability.

Participants will be complete three baseline sessions before taking part in Narrative Exposure Therapy using a manual that has been adapted for people with a learning disability. Trauma symptoms will be measured weekly using the Impact of Events scale adapted for intellectual disabilities. The person's carer will also complete an informant scale related to these symptoms (LANTS-IV). The client will also complete the CORE-LD at pre, and post therapy. Six weeks after the end of the intervention, the client and their carer will be invited to a feedback session to talk about how they found the intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

13

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
      • Nottingham, United Kingdom, NG3 6AA
        • Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 and over
  • Meet the criteria for having a mild ID as assessed by a clinical psychologist within the team
  • English speaking
  • Have capacity to consent
  • The participant must be experiencing trauma related stress as assessed by themselves, the clinical psychologist and the research team
  • Be able to travel to one of the therapy sites
  • Carer participant must have ability to reflect and comment on the trauma related stress experienced by the client participant
  • Carer must also be 18 years old or older and be English speaking.
  • Carer must have known participant for 1 year or more.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • They are substance dependent
  • They are currently receiving another trauma-focused intervention
  • Currently an inpatient
  • Carers excluded if they lack capacity to consent to take part in research

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Narrative Exposure Therapy treatment
All participants within the trial will receive narrative exposure therapy and be within the treatment arm.
Other: Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET)
NET is a psychological talking therapy that has been designed for people who have experienced multiple and prolonged traumatic experiences. It is typically 12-sessions, involving first a psychoeducation session, then laying a lifeline where stones are lain to represent traumatic events, and flowers positive life events. The following sessions the person is asked to talk through their life, going into detail on the traumatic memories that they have experienced.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Impact of Events Scale for intellectual disabilities (IES-ID)
Time Frame: Completed weekly through baseline and intervention stages, approximately 16 weeks. Then at 6-week follow up (approximately week 22).
The IES-ID (Hall et al., 2014) is a 22 item scale scored on a three-point Likert scale measuring trauma related symptoms. This is an adapted measure that has been validated for people with an intellectual disability.
Completed weekly through baseline and intervention stages, approximately 16 weeks. Then at 6-week follow up (approximately week 22).
Lancaster and Northgate Trauma Scale for Intellectual Disabilities - Informant Version (LANTS-IV; Wigham et al., 2011)
Time Frame: Completed weekly through baseline and intervention stages, approximately 16 weeks. Then at 6-week follow up (approximately week 22).
47 scored on a six-point scale for frequency and three-point for severity.
Completed weekly through baseline and intervention stages, approximately 16 weeks. Then at 6-week follow up (approximately week 22).
Clinical Outcome Routine Evaluation-Learning Disabilities (CORE-LD; Brooks et al., 2013)
Time Frame: At baseline week 1 and at 6-week follow-up (approximately week 22).
14 scored on a three-point Likert scale measuring psychological distress across four domains: well-being, symptoms, functioning, and risk
At baseline week 1 and at 6-week follow-up (approximately week 22).
Change interview (Elliott et al., 2001) with clients and carers
Time Frame: 6-weeks post-intervention. Sessions will be around 30-60 minutes.
A feedback session will be held with the client and their carer around 6-weeks after the therapy has come to an end. This will ask for feedback on how they found the intervention.
6-weeks post-intervention. Sessions will be around 30-60 minutes.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Heart rate
Time Frame: Weekly during the intervention sessions, for approximately 12-weeks.
Heart rate will be taken using a fitness watch that can measure continuous heart rate. This will show whether any within and between session habituation has taken place. Subjective units of distress (Wolpe, 1969) will be used if clients do not wish to wear a heart rate device.
Weekly during the intervention sessions, for approximately 12-weeks.
Post-session therapist reflections
Time Frame: Across the intervention phase, an average of a year
Therapist reflections will be collected to gather information about their thoughts relating to the manual and therapy.
Across the intervention phase, an average of a year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Nottingham

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Thomas Schroder, University of Nottingham

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 3, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 31, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

March 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 26, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

April 18, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 29, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 24042

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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