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The ABCDE psychological first aid intervention decreases early PTSD symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Early Psychological First Aid (PFA) has been widely recommended for preventing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, its lack of empirical evidence of safety and effectiveness has been criticized. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of PFA-ABCDE, an original PFA protocol, fo...

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Autores principales: Figueroa, Rodrigo Andrés, Cortés, Paula Francisca, Marín, Humberto, Vergés, Alvaro, Gillibrand, Rodrigo, Repetto, Paula
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Taylor & Francis 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8890535/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35251529
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2022.2031829
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author Figueroa, Rodrigo Andrés
Cortés, Paula Francisca
Marín, Humberto
Vergés, Alvaro
Gillibrand, Rodrigo
Repetto, Paula
author_facet Figueroa, Rodrigo Andrés
Cortés, Paula Francisca
Marín, Humberto
Vergés, Alvaro
Gillibrand, Rodrigo
Repetto, Paula
author_sort Figueroa, Rodrigo Andrés
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Early Psychological First Aid (PFA) has been widely recommended for preventing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, its lack of empirical evidence of safety and effectiveness has been criticized. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of PFA-ABCDE, an original PFA protocol, for preventing PTSD one month after the intervention and decreasing PTSD symptoms at one and six months of follow up. METHODS: We assessed the eligibility of 1,140 adult survivors of recent trauma (≤ 72 hours) consulting five emergency departments in Chile. Two hundred twenty-one were randomized to receive either PFA-ABCDE (active listening, breathing retraining, categorization of needs, referral to ancillary services, and psychoeducation) or only psychoeducation. We used the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to assess PTSD diagnosis. The Posttraumatic Checklist (PCL), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and a 0–10 points analogue visual scale were used to assess PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and immediate distress relief after the intervention. RESULTS: We found no difference between the experimental and control groups in the frequency of PTSD one month after the intervention (PFA-ABCDE = 23/76 [30.3%], psychoeducation = 18/75 [24.0%], adjusted odds ratio = 1.39, 95% confidence interval = 0.63–3.07, p = .408). Immediately after the intervention, participants who received PFA-ABCDE reported greater distress relief (PFA-ABCDE mean = 9.06, psychoeducation mean = 8.55, Cohen’s d = 0.30, p = .038). Fewer PTSD symptoms were reported by those who received PFA-ABCDE one month after the intervention (PFA-ABCDE mean = 36.26, psychoeducation mean = 43.62, Cohen’s d = 0.42, p = .033). We found no difference in depressive symptoms at one-month follow up (p = .713) nor in PTSD symptoms six months after the intervention (p = .986). CONCLUSIONS: PFA-ABCDE does not prevent PTSD diagnosis, but it provides immediate distress relief and decreases PTSD symptoms in the short term.
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spelling pubmed-88905352022-03-03 The ABCDE psychological first aid intervention decreases early PTSD symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial Figueroa, Rodrigo Andrés Cortés, Paula Francisca Marín, Humberto Vergés, Alvaro Gillibrand, Rodrigo Repetto, Paula Eur J Psychotraumatol Clinical Research Article BACKGROUND: Early Psychological First Aid (PFA) has been widely recommended for preventing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, its lack of empirical evidence of safety and effectiveness has been criticized. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of PFA-ABCDE, an original PFA protocol, for preventing PTSD one month after the intervention and decreasing PTSD symptoms at one and six months of follow up. METHODS: We assessed the eligibility of 1,140 adult survivors of recent trauma (≤ 72 hours) consulting five emergency departments in Chile. Two hundred twenty-one were randomized to receive either PFA-ABCDE (active listening, breathing retraining, categorization of needs, referral to ancillary services, and psychoeducation) or only psychoeducation. We used the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to assess PTSD diagnosis. The Posttraumatic Checklist (PCL), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and a 0–10 points analogue visual scale were used to assess PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and immediate distress relief after the intervention. RESULTS: We found no difference between the experimental and control groups in the frequency of PTSD one month after the intervention (PFA-ABCDE = 23/76 [30.3%], psychoeducation = 18/75 [24.0%], adjusted odds ratio = 1.39, 95% confidence interval = 0.63–3.07, p = .408). Immediately after the intervention, participants who received PFA-ABCDE reported greater distress relief (PFA-ABCDE mean = 9.06, psychoeducation mean = 8.55, Cohen’s d = 0.30, p = .038). Fewer PTSD symptoms were reported by those who received PFA-ABCDE one month after the intervention (PFA-ABCDE mean = 36.26, psychoeducation mean = 43.62, Cohen’s d = 0.42, p = .033). We found no difference in depressive symptoms at one-month follow up (p = .713) nor in PTSD symptoms six months after the intervention (p = .986). CONCLUSIONS: PFA-ABCDE does not prevent PTSD diagnosis, but it provides immediate distress relief and decreases PTSD symptoms in the short term. Taylor & Francis 2022-03-01 /pmc/articles/PMC8890535/ /pubmed/35251529 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2022.2031829 Text en © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) ), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Clinical Research Article
Figueroa, Rodrigo Andrés
Cortés, Paula Francisca
Marín, Humberto
Vergés, Alvaro
Gillibrand, Rodrigo
Repetto, Paula
The ABCDE psychological first aid intervention decreases early PTSD symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial
title The ABCDE psychological first aid intervention decreases early PTSD symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial
title_full The ABCDE psychological first aid intervention decreases early PTSD symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial
title_fullStr The ABCDE psychological first aid intervention decreases early PTSD symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial
title_full_unstemmed The ABCDE psychological first aid intervention decreases early PTSD symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial
title_short The ABCDE psychological first aid intervention decreases early PTSD symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial
title_sort abcde psychological first aid intervention decreases early ptsd symptoms but does not prevent it: results of a randomized-controlled trial
topic Clinical Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8890535/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35251529
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2022.2031829
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