Summary of findings 1. Summary of findings table ‐ Psychosocial interventions compared to inactive control for survivors of sexual violence and abuse.

Psychosocial interventions compared to inactive control for survivors of sexual violence and abuse
Patient or population: survivors of sexual violence and abuse Setting: mental health clinics; veterans affairs medical centres; sexual assault and abuse services in acute, primary care and community; and academic/experimental settings Intervention: psychosocial interventions Comparison: inactive control
Outcomes	Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI)		Relative effect (95% CI)	№ of participants (studies)	Certainty of the evidence (GRADE)	Comments
	Risk with inactive control	Risk with psychosocial interventions
PTSD symptoms, post‐treatment (self‐reported or clinician‐rated)	‐	SMD 0.83 lower (1.22 lower to 0.44 lower)	‐	1130 (16 RCTs)	⊕⊕⊝⊝ Lowa,b	Lower score means fewer PTSD symptoms. An SMD of ‐0.83 is a large effect (Cohen’s D). Subgroup analyses indicate there may be evidence of a group difference for CBT (SMD ‐0.77) and Behavioural Therapy (SMD ‐1.85), but no evidence of a difference for low‐intensity interventions (P = 0.09).
Depressive symptoms, post‐treatment (self‐reported or clinician‐rated)	‐	SMD 0.82 lower (1.17 lower to 0.48 lower)	‐	901 (12 RCTs)	⊕⊕⊝⊝ Lowa,c,d	Lower score means fewer depressive symptoms. An SMD of ‐0.82 is a large effect (Cohen's D). Subgroup analyses indicate there may be evidence of a group difference for CBT (SMD ‐0.73) and Behavioural Therapy (SMD ‐1.51), but no evidence of a difference for low‐intensity interventions (P = 0.39).
Dropout from treatment (a count of participants not meeting study‐defined completion threshold)	336 per 1000	286 per 1000 (171 to 484)	RR 0.85 (0.51 to 1.44)	242 (5 RCTs)	⊕⊕⊝⊝ Lowe,f
Adverse events (a count of reported harms or adverse events/experiences over life of study/follow‐up)	7 per 1000	13 per 1000 (2 to 82)	RR 1.92 (0.30 to 12.41)	622 (6 RCTs)	⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very lowg,h,i	There were 21 adverse events reported in just 7 studies, suggesting many studies may not have actively monitored negative impacts of the treatments or being in the research.
*The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: confidence interval; RR: risk ratio; SMD: standardised mean difference
GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High certainty: we are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect. Moderate certainty: we are moderately confident in the effect estimate: the true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different. Low certainty: our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: the true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect. Very low certainty: we have very little confidence in the effect estimate: the true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect.
See interactive version of this table: https://gdt.gradepro.org/presentations/#/isof/isof_question_revman_web_429039861582912181.

^a Sensitivity analyses removing studies at high risk of bias reduced the effect size to moderate based on Cohen's D.
^b Downgraded 1 level due to heterogeneity I2 = 87%, P < 0.001.
^c Downgraded 1 level due to 50% or more of the results receiving an overall high risk of bias judgement.
^d Downgraded 1 level due to heterogeneity I2 = 78%, P < 0.001.
^e Only includes the 5 studies that reported dropout from a psychosocial intervention vs minimal intervention; this analysis may not directly address the question about treatment completion as this requires comparing 2 active interventions.
^f The confidence interval includes appreciable benefit or harm.
^g Only 6 of 23 studies in the main comparison reported on adverse events by group, raising concerns about selective reporting bias.
^h Adverse events were not reported using consistent methods.
ⁱ Imprecision due to too few events.