SynthesisPloS one2022
The effectiveness of psychological interventions for reducing PTSD and psychological distress in first responders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- A multisite feasibility randomized clinical trial of mindfulness-based resilience training for aggression, stress, and health in law enforcement officers.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Trial
- The Impact of a Brief Psycho-Education and Skills Intervention on Trauma Symptoms in a Prison Setting: Proof of Concept Using Group and Case Analysis.International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology · 2026Article
- Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms among wildland firefighters and local residents in recurrent wildfire areas.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries Among Canadian Public Safety Communicators: A Nationwide Comparative Study: Prévalence des blessures de stress post-traumatique chez les communicateurs en sécurité publique canadiens : étude comparative nationale.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2026Article
- Development of a First-tier Risk Assessment Tool for Occupational Hazards Among Public Officials.Safety and health at work · 2026Article
- Psychological Distress, Resilience and Social Support as Predictors of Change in Quality of Life Over One Year in Paramedic Trainees.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Effects of Psychological Interventions for Mental Health in Police Officers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Are we preparing our medical students to fail with a reactive not proactive approach to managing workplace stress, reducing burnout and addressing mental health problems?Future healthcare journal · 2026Article
- Treatment effects of psychological interventions on self-harm in individuals with PTSD: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.Systematic reviews · 2026Article
- When Chronic Risk Meets Acute Strain: Sudden Cardiac Death and Cardiovascular Vulnerability in Firefighters.Clinical Medicine Insights. Cardiology · 2026Review
- Review
- Interventions to improve mental well-being and sleep in paramedics: A scoping review.PloS one · 2026Article
- Cognitive processing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in first responders and veterans: Flexing the approach with explicit case formulation.Journal of traumatic stress · 2025Article
- Return-to-Work Outcomes Following Mental Health Treatment Among Public Safety Personnel Disabled by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Developing Recommendations to Improve Crisis Line Supports for Public Safety Personnel in Canada: Protocol for a Multimethod National Study.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Male role norms and the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among Polish male paramedics.International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health · 2025Article
- Cross-Sectional Analysis of Psychological Mediators Between Occupational Trauma and PTSD in Metropolitan Firefighters.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Development and validation of a risk prediction model for post-traumatic stress disorder among Chinese breast cancer survivors.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- What predicts mental health profiles in first-generation college freshmen?: the role of proactive personality and university environment.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Cross-sectional exercise-related differences in PTSD symptoms, psychological distress, physical pain, and sleep quality in trauma-exposed adults.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFirst responders are faced with stressful and traumatic events in their work that may affect their psychological health. The current review examined the effectiveness of psychological interventions to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, stress and burnout in first responders.
methodsFour databases were searched to identify controlled studies that examined the efficacy of psychological interventions to reduce PTSD symptoms (primary outcome) in first responders (including firefighters, police/law enforcement officers, search and rescue personnel, emergency and paramedics teams). Secondary outcomes were anxiety, depression, burnout, and stress.
results15 studies were identified, including 10 studies that measured PTSD, 7 studies for anxiety, 10 studies for depression, 7 studies for stress and 1 for burnout. Interventions were associated with a significant reduction in PTSD (SDM = -0.86; 95% CI = -1.34 -- 0.39), depression (SDM = -0.63; 95% CI = -0.94 --0.32), and anxiety (SDM = -0.38; 95% CI = -0.71 --0.05) but not stress (SDM = -0.13; 95% CI = -0.51-0.25). CBT-based and clinician-delivered interventions were associated with significantly greater reductions in PTSD than other types of interventions and non-clinician interventions, but no differences were found for depression. There was evidence of moderate to high risk of bias across all studies.
conclusionsPsychological interventions are effective in reducing PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms but not stress in first responders. Further research is needed using high quality randomised designs over longer periods of follow-up.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.