Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Home
Hostname: page-component-dc8c957cd-ntdpv Total loading time: 0.196 Render date: 2022-01-28T04:35:27.872Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, "shouldUseHypothesis": true, "isUnsiloEnabled": true, "metricsAbstractViews": false, "figures": true, "newCiteModal": false, "newCitedByModal": true, "newEcommerce": true, "newUsageEvents": true }
  • English
The British Journal of Psychiatry The British Journal of Psychiatry

Article contents

Randomised controlled trial of psychological debriefing for victims of acute burn trauma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Jonathan I. Bisson ,
Peter L. Jenkins ,
Julie Alexander  and
Carol Bannister
Jonathan I. Bisson*
Affiliation:
University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff
Peter L. Jenkins
Affiliation:
St Cadoc's Hospital, Caerleon, Gwent
Julie Alexander
Affiliation:
St Cadoc's Hospital, Caerleon, Gwent
Carol Bannister
Affiliation:
St Cadoc's Hospital, Caerleon, Gwent
*
Dr J. I. Bisson, Gabalfa Clinic, 213 North Road, Cardiff CF4 3AG. Fax: 01222 627954. e-mail: 101454.3011@compuserve.com
Get access Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Psychological debriefing (PD) is widely used following major traumatic events in an attempt to reduce psychological sequelae.

Method

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.

Results

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.

Conclusions

This study seriously questions the wisdom of advocating one-off interventions post-trauma, and should stimulate research into more effective initiatives.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 171 , Issue 1 , July 1997 , pp. 78 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn) (DSM–IV). Washington, DC: APA.Google ScholarPubMed
Blake, D. D., Weathers, F. W. & Nagy, L. N. (1990) A clinician rating scale for assessing current and lifetime PTSD: the CAPS–1. Behaviour Therapist, 18, 187–188.Google Scholar
Horowitz, M. J., Wilner, N. R. & Alvarez, W. (1979) Impact of event scale: a measure of subjective stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 41, 768–781.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kilpatrick, A. G., Saunders, B. E., Amick-McMullan, A., et al (1989) Victim and crime factors associated with the development of crime related post-traumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Therapy, 20, 199–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, C., Slade, P. & Lygo, V. (1996) The influence of psychological debriefing on emotional adaptation in females following early miscarriage. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 69, 47–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malt, U. F. (1988) The long-term consequences of accidental injuries. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 810–818.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayou, R., Bryant, B. & Duthie, R. (1993) Psychiatric consequences of road traffic accidents. British Medical Journal, 307, 647–651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mitchell, J. T. (1903) When disaster strikes … the critical incident debriefing process. Journal of the Emergency Medical Services, 8, 36–39.Google Scholar
Peterson, D. R., Carrigan, L., Quested, K. A., et al (1990) Post-traumatic stress disorder in hospitalised patients with burn injuries. Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, 11, 181–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perez-Jimenez, J. P., Graell-Berna, M., Perez-Sales, P., et al (1993) Severe burn injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 1276.Google Scholar
Perry, S., Difede, J., Musngi, G., et al (1992) Predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder after burn injury. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 931–935.Google ScholarPubMed
Pitman, R. K., Altman, B., Greenwald, E., et al (1991) Psychiatric complications during flooding therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 52, 17–20.Google ScholarPubMed
Raphael, B., Meldrum, L. & McFmrlane, A. C. (1995) Does debriefing after psychological trauma work? Time for randomised controlled trials. British Medical Journal, 310, 1479–1480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, R. C. & Mitchell, J. T. (1993) Evaluation of psychological debriefings. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 6, 367–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zigmond, A. S. & Snaith, R. P. (1983) The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67, 361–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.
272
Cited by

Send article to Kindle

To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about sending to your Kindle.

Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Randomised controlled trial of psychological debriefing for victims of acute burn trauma
Available formats
×

Send article to Dropbox

To send this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Dropbox.

Randomised controlled trial of psychological debriefing for victims of acute burn trauma
Available formats
×

Send article to Google Drive

To send this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Google Drive.

Randomised controlled trial of psychological debriefing for victims of acute burn trauma
Available formats
×
×

Reply to: Submit a response

Please enter your response.

Your details

Please enter a valid email address.

Conflicting interests

Do you have any conflicting interests? *