A randomized controlled trial of individual psychological debriefing for victims of violent crime. Randomised controlled trial of psychological debriefing for victims of acute burn trauma. Early cognitive-behavioural therapy for post-traumatic stress symptoms after physical injury. Randomised controlled trial. Trial of interpersonal counselling after major physical trauma. Effectiveness of a single-session early psychological intervention for children after road traffic accidents: a randomised controlled trial. Treatment of acute stress disorder: a comparison of cognitive-behavioral therapy and supportive counseling. Treating acute stress disorder following mild traumatic brain injury. Stress debriefing after childbirth: a randomised controlled trial. Brief psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorders.
It has been suggested that giving people the opportunity talk about a traumatic experience may prevent the development of later disorder. We tested the efficacy of two brief interventions, education and psychological debriefing, designed to prevent adverse psychological reactions to criminal victimization.
                Individuals who had been the victims of a violent crime within the past month were written to and invited to take part in a study of their attitudes to crime and punishment: 2161 were contacted and 243 replied, of whom 157 were eligible and were randomly assigned either to an education condition, to a psychological debriefing plus education condition, or to an assessment only condition. Education involved providing information about normal post-traumatic reactions. Debriefing involved in-depth probing about events, thoughts and feelings experienced during the crime. Subjects were recruited from police and hospital sources and interviewed in their own homes: 138 were followed up at 6 months, and 92 at 11 months.
                Outcome was assessed using a DSM-III-R diagnosis of PTSD, the Post-traumatic Symptom Scale, the Impact of Event Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. All groups improved over time but there were no between-group differences.
                No evidence was found to support the efficacy of brief one-session interventions for preventing post-traumatic symptoms in individual victims of violent crime. Psychological debriefing (PD) is widely used following major traumatic events in an attempt to reduce psychological sequelae.
                One hundred and thirty-three adult burn trauma victims entered the study. After initial questionnaire completion, participants were randomly allocated to an individual/couple PD group or a control group who received no intervention; 110 (83%) were interviewed by an assessor blind to PD status three and 13 months later.
                Sixteen (26%) of the PD group had PTSD at 13-month follow-up, compared with four (9%) of the control group. The PD group had higher initial questionnaire scores and more severe dimensions of burn trauma than the control group, both of which were associated with a poorer outcome.
                This study seriously questions the wisdom of advocating one-off interventions post-trauma, and should stimulate research into more effective initiatives. Early single-session psychological interventions, including psychological debriefing following trauma, have not been shown to reduce psychological distress. Longer early psychological interventions have shown some promise.
                To examine the efficacy of a four-session cognitive-behavioural intervention following physical injury.
                A total of 152 patients attending an accident and emergency department displaying psychological distress following physical injury were randomised 1-3 weeks post-injury to a four-session cognitive-behavioural intervention that started 5-10 weeks after the injury or to no intervention and then followed up for 13 months.
                At 13 months, the total Impact of Event Scale score was significantly more reduced in the intervention group (adjusted mean difference=8.4,95% CI 2.4-14.36). Other differences were not statistically significant.
                A brief cognitive-behavioural intervention reduces symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in individuals with physical injury who display initial distress. The purpose of the present study was to determine if interpersonal counselling (IPC) was effective in reducing psychological morbidity after major physical trauma.
                One hundred and seventeen subjects were recruited from two major trauma centres and randomized to treatment as usual or IPC in the first 3 months following trauma. Measures of depressive, anxiety and post-traumatic symptoms were taken at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV diagnoses was conducted at baseline and at 6 months to assess for psychiatric disorder.
                Fifty-eight patients completed the study. Only half the patients randomized to IPC completed the therapy. At 6 months the level of depressive, anxiety and post-traumatic symptoms and the prevalence of psychiatric disorder did not differ significantly between the intervention and treatment-as-usual groups. Subjects with a past history of major depression who received IPC had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms at 6 months.
                IPC was not effective as a universal intervention to reduce psychiatric morbidity after major physical trauma and may increase morbidity in vulnerable individuals. Patient dropout is likely to be a major problem in universal multi-session preventative interventions. Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the leading health threat to children in Europe, resulting in 355,000 injuries annually. Because children can suffer significant and long-term mental health problems following RTAs, there is considerable interest in the development of early psychological interventions. To date, the research in this field is scarce, and currently no evidence-based recommendations can be made.
                To evaluate the effectiveness of a single-session early psychological intervention, 99 children age 7-16 were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The manualised intervention was provided to the child and at least one parent around 10 days after the child's involvement in an RTA. It included reconstruction of the accident using drawings and accident-related toys, and psychoeducation. All of the children were interviewed at 10 days, 2 months and 6 months after the accident. Parents filled in questionnaires. Standardised instruments were used to assess acute stress disorder (ASD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive symptoms and behavioural problems.
                The children of the two study groups showed no significant differences concerning posttraumatic symptoms and other outcome variables at 2 or at 6 months. Interestingly, analyses showed a significant intervention x age-group effect, indicating that for preadolescent children the intervention was effective in decreasing depressive symptoms and behavioural problems.
                This study is the first to show a beneficial effect of a single-session early psychological intervention after RTA in preadolescent children. Therefore, an age-specific approach in an early stage after RTAs may be a promising way for further research. Younger children can benefit from the intervention evaluated here. However, these results have to be interpreted with caution, because of small subgroup sizes. Future studies are needed to examine specific approaches for children and adolescents. Also, the intervention evaluated here needs to be studied in other groups of traumatised children.
                Clinical Trial Registry: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00296842. Acute stress disorder (ASD) is a precursor of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Twenty-four participants with ASD following civilian trauma were given 5 sessions of either cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or supportive counseling (SC) within 2 weeks of their trauma. Fewer participants in CBT (8%) than in SC (83%) met criteria for PTSD at posttreatment. There were also fewer cases of PTSD in the CBT condition (17%) than in the SC condition (67%) 6 months posttrauma. There were greater statistically and clinically significant reductions in intrusive, avoidance, and depressive symptomatology among the CBT participants than among the SC participants. This study represents the 1st demonstration of successful treatment of ASD with CBT and its efficacy in preventing chronic PTSD. Acute stress disorder permits early identification of trauma survivors who are at risk of developing chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study aimed to prevent PTSD in people who developed acute stress disorder after a mild brain injury by early provision of cognitive behavior therapy.
                Twenty-four civilian trauma survivors with acute stress disorder were given five individually administered sessions of either cognitive behavior therapy or supportive counseling within 2 weeks of their trauma.
                Fewer patients receiving cognitive behavior therapy than supportive counseling met criteria for PTSD at a posttreatment evaluation (8% versus 58%, respectively). There were also fewer cases of PTSD at a 6-month follow-up evaluation among those receiving cognitive behavior therapy (17%) than among those receiving supportive counseling (58%). Patients in the cognitive behavior therapy condition displayed less reexperiencing and avoidance symptoms at the follow-up evaluation than patients receiving supportive counseling.
                These findings suggest that PTSD following mild brain injury can be effectively prevented with early provision of cognitive behavior therapy. To test whether critical incident stress debriefing after childbirth reduces the incidence of postnatal psychological disorders.
                Randomised single-blind controlled trial stratified for parity and delivery mode.
                Two large maternity hospitals in Perth.
                1745 women who delivered healthy term infants between April 1996 and December 1997 (875 allocated to intervention and 870 to control group).
                An individual, standardised debriefing session based on the principles of critical incident stress debriefing carried out within 72 hours of delivery.
                Diagnosis of stress disorders or depression in the 12 months postpartum, using structured psychological interview and criteria of the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition.
                Follow-up information was available for 1730 women (99.1%), 482 of whom underwent psychological interview. There were no significant differences between control and intervention groups in scores on Impact of Events or Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scales at 2, 6 or 12 months postpartum, or in proportions of women who met diagnostic criteria for a stress disorder (intervention, 0.6% v control, 0.8%; P = 0.58) or major or minor depression (intervention, 17.8% v control, 18.2%; relative risk [95% CI], 0.99 [0.87-1.11]) during the postpartum year. Nor were there differences in median time to onset of depression (intervention, 6 [interquartile range, 4-9] weeks v control, 4 [3-8] weeks; P = 0.84), or duration of depression (intervention, 24 [12-46] weeks v control, 22 [10-52] weeks; P = 0.98).
                There is a high prevalence of depression in women during the first year after childbirth. A session of midwife-led, critical incident stress debriefing was not effective in preventing postnatal psychological disorders, but had no adverse effects. A large-scale study of the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic methods for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorders was conducted. The sample consisted of 112 persons suffering from serious disorders resulting from traumatic events (bereavement, acts of violence, and traffic accidents) that had taken place not more than 5 years before. Trauma desensitization, hypnotherapy, and psychodynamic therapy were tested for their effectiveness in comparison with a waiting-list control group. The results indicated that treated cases were significantly lower in trauma-related symptoms than the control group.
There is no evidence that single session individual psychological debriefing is a useful treatment for the prevention of post traumatic stress disorder after traumatic incidents. Compulsory debriefing of victims of trauma should cease. A more appropriate response could involve a 'screen and treat' model (NICE 2005).