The influence of occupational debriefing on post-traumatic stress symptomatology in traumatized police officers

Certain individuals, such as police officers, are exposed to traumatic even ts as part of their occupational roles. In an effort to prevent psychologic al illnesses, notably the post-traumatic stress disorder, from arising out of work-related traumatic incidents, psychological interventions have been developed such as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (Mitchell, 1983; Mitc hell & Everly, 1996). The present study tests the hypothesis that debriefin g reduces the psychological morbidity caused by work-related incidents. Bec ause debriefing techniques were not designed for application on a 'one-off' basis (Robinson & Mitchell, 1933), the procedure studied here consisted of three successive debriefing sessions (at 24 hours, 1 month and 3 months po st-trauma), which included traumatic stress education. In a sample of 243 t raumatized police officers, a subgroup of debriefed officers (N = 86) was c ompared with non-debriefed internal (N = 82) and external (N = 75) control groups. No differences in psychological morbidity were found between the gr oups at pre-test, at 24 hours or at 6 months post-trauma. One week post-tra uma, debriefed subjects exhibited significantly more post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology than non-debriefed subjects. High levels of satisfa ction with debriefing were not reflect ed in positive outcomes. The finding s are translated into recommendations for the future use of debriefing in p olice practice.