SynthesisFrontiers in psychology2023
Revisiting the debriefing debate: does psychological debriefing reduce PTSD symptomology following work-related trauma? A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Perinatal Mood, Anxiety, and Related Disorders: Guide de pratique 2024 du Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments pour le traitement des troubles de l'humeur, des troubles anxieux et des troubles connexes périnatals.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2025Guideline
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental methods for modulating intrusive memories following lab-analogue trauma exposure in non-clinical populations.Nature human behaviour · 2024Pooled it
- The impact of virtual reality analog-trauma films and Tetris gameplay duration on intrusive memories.Memory & cognition · 2026Article
- Zero Tolerance for Patient-Perpetrated Sexual Harassment.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Professional quality of life among Norwegian oral health professionals working with torture and abuse survivors and patients with severe dental anxiety.Acta odontologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Article
- The effectiveness and adaptiveness of suppressing unwanted thoughts.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2025Review
- Implementation and evaluation of a psychological first aid program to manage post-traumatic stress injuries among Canadian police officers.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- Facilitators and barriers to engaging in expressive writing among health and social care professionals.PloS one · 2025Article
- Self-care strategies used by disaster responders after the 2023 earthquake in Turkey and Syria: a mixed methods study.BMC emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Enhancing Agency in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Therapies Through Sensorimotor Technologies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Time to UNPACK: Understanding Needs in Post-Rotation Activities and Coaching Kit-A Global Health Elective Rotation Debriefing Curriculum.Journal of medical education and curricular developmentArticle
- Social Support Interventions and Post-Trauma Psychopathology in High-Risk Professionals: A Scoping Review.Clinical psychology & psychotherapyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Psychological debriefing is an early post-trauma intervention which aims to prevent the development of PTSD and accelerate normal recovery through discussing, validating, and normalising group members responses to trauma. While originally designed in the 1980s for groups of emergency service personnel, the scope of psychological debriefing extended to individual primary victims of trauma. A Cochrane review in 2002 concluded that psychological debriefing was ineffective, yet some authors have argued that many of the studies that informed the Cochrane review did not adhere to key elements of psychological debriefing. This meta-analysis sought to re-examine the effectiveness of psychological debriefing in preventing or reducing PTSD symptoms following work-related trauma. Appropriate studies were selected from three databases (MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO). Inclusion criteria was intentionally broad so that features of psychological debriefing that may determine its effectiveness could be explored through a series of subgroup analyses. The overall synthesis did not find consistent evidence that psychological debriefing helps to prevent or reduce PTSD symptoms following work-related trauma. Shortcomings in the methodology and reporting of many of the studies meant that several important subgroup analyses could not be conducted. Further well-designed studies in this field are warranted to ensure that employees exposed to potentially traumatic events receive the effective support they need and deserve.
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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.