SCREENING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEBRIEFING OF ADOLESCENT SURVIVORS OF LIFE-THREATENING EVENTS

There is a perceived need for schools and casualty departments to rece ive appropriate information and guidelines in order to minimise the ef fect of PTSD. A recommended screening battery for PTSD was administere d at the start of a two-session debriefing group and again three month s later to a group of seven young survivors of a minibus accident. No studies using this screen other than those of shipping disasters have been reported to date. Screen scores were compared with those of survi vors of the cruise ship Jupiter. No significant differences were found between minibus survivors when assessed at six months (before interve ntion), and Jupiter survivors, who when assessed at five months had al ready undergone debriefing. Post-debriefing assessment of minibus surv ivors demonstrated significant reductions on all measures.