Disaster-related post-traumatic stress in police officers: a field study of the impact of debriefing

✍ Scribed by Carlier, Ingrid V. E. ;Lamberts, Regina D. ;Van Uchelen, Annephine J. ;Gersons, Berthold P. R.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 119 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0748-8386
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1700(199807)14:3<143::aid-smi770>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

Eight and 18 months after police ocers had responded to a civilian plane crash, we assessed symptomatology in 46 debriefed and 59 non-debriefed ocers, using structured clinical interviews. The two groups did not dier in recalled preevent or postevent distress. Eight months postdisaster, debriefed and non-debriefed ocers did not diverge signi®cantly on post-traumatic stress symptomatology. Eighteen months postdisaster, however, those who had undergone debrie®ng exhibited signi®cantly more disaster-related hyperarousal symptoms. We discuss research ®ndings on post-traumatic stress and debrie®ng, and make some recommendations for crisis intervention following trauma and for further research on the topic.