Academic/State/Federal collaborations and the improvement of practices in disaster mental health services and evaluation.

Academic, state, and federal agencies collaborated over the last 9 years to improve disaster mental health services and evaluation. This process, which included literature reviews, a number of expert panels, and case studies, is described. The products resulting from this process have included the development of a systematic cross-site evaluation of the federally funded crisis counseling program and field guides for interventions aimed at providing services to distressed individuals in the immediate aftermath of disasters and to individuals needing resilience skills training weeks or months after the event. Future improvement of disaster mental health services calls for continued research, evaluation, training, and intervention development.

A psychometric analysis of Project Liberty's adult enhanced services referral tool.

OBJECTIVES: Project Liberty was the first federally funded crisis counseling program to offer evidence-informed treatments to crisis counseling recipients in need of more intensive clinical intervention. The Adult Enhanced Services Referral Tool was developed as a screening instrument for making and monitoring referrals to enhanced services. This study aimed to examine how well the tool functioned for identifying persons who would perceive a need for professional treatment. METHODS: A one-page tool was created that assessed demographic characteristics, risk categories, and psychological reactions to the focal event, September 11, 2001. Psychosocial reactions were assessed by the 12-item SPRINT-E, which is an expanded version of the Short Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Rating Interview (SPRINT). The SPRINT-E was embedded in the Adult Enhanced Services Referral Tool. Data were collected from 788 clients who received crisis counseling between June and October 2003. RESULTS: The SPRINT-E is a unidimensional measure of distress and dysfunction. Internal consistency was excellent for the total sample (alpha=.93) and subsamples. Among the 543 clients offered referral, 71 percent accepted. Among those offered referral, the number of intense reactions (score of 4, quite a bit, or 5, very much) was by far the strongest predictor of referral acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: The SPRINT-E was successfully integrated into the crisis counseling program and provided an apparently successful, empirical basis for referral from counseling to professional treatment. Results of the brief psychological assessment provided a stronger basis for referral to treatment than membership in a risk category (for example, family member of deceased) alone.

Assessment and treatment of adult acute responses to traumatic stress following mass traumatic events.

Assessment and treatment of acute responses to traumatic stress has received much attention since September 11, 2001. This article elucidates principles of early intervention with adults in the immediate (within 48 hours) and early recovery phase (within the first week). The principles have been drawn from research on risk and recover factors, stress and traumatic stress theory, and expert consensus recommendations. The debriefing model is discussed, and principle interventions of psychological first aid, pharmacology, and mass trauma systems are described. This article concludes with brief guidelines for longer-term interventions and recommendations for future research.

60,000 disaster victims speak: Part II. Summary and implications of the disaster mental health research.

On the basis of the literature reviewed in Part I of this two-part series (Norris, Friedman, Watson, Byrne, Diaz, and Kaniasty, this volume), the authors recommend early intervention following disasters, especially when the disaster is associated with extreme and widespread damage to property, ongoing financial problems for the stricken community, violence that resulted from human intent, and a high prevalence of trauma in the form of injuries, threat to life, and loss of life. Meeting the mental health needs of children, women, and survivors in developing countries is particularly critical. The family context is central to understanding and meeting those needs. Because of the complexity of disasters and responses to them, inter-agency cooperation and coordination are extremely important elements of the mental health response. Altogether, the research demands that we think ecologically and design and test societal- and community-level interventions for the population at large and conserve scarce clinical resources for those most in need.

60,000 disaster victims speak: Part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981-2001.

Results for 160 samples of disaster victims were coded as to sample type, disaster type, disaster location, outcomes and risk factors observed, and overall severity of impairment. In order of frequency, outcomes included specific psychological problems, nonspecific distress, health problems, chronic problems in living, resource loss, and problems specific to youth. Regression analyses showed that samples were more likely to be impaired if they were composed of youth rather than adults, were from developing rather than developed countries, or experienced mass violence (e.g., terrorism, shooting sprees) rather than natural or technological disasters. Most samples of rescue and recovery workers showed remarkable resilience. Within adult samples, more severe exposure, female gender, middle age, ethnic minority status, secondary stressors, prior psychiatric problems, and weak or deteriorating psychosocial resources most consistently increased the likelihood of adverse outcomes. Among youth, family factors were primary. Implications of the research for clinical practice and community intervention are discussed in a companion article (Norris, Friedman, and Watson, this volume).

Review of VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guideline on management of acute stress and interventions to prevent posttraumatic stress disorder.

This article summarizes the recommendations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)/Department of Defense (DOD) VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Post-Traumatic Stress that pertain to acute stress and the prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder, including screening and early interventions for acute stress states in various settings. Recommended interventions during the first 4 days after a potentially traumatic event include attending to safety and basic needs and providing access to physical, emotional, and social resources. Psychological first aid is recommended for management of acute stress, while psychological debriefing is discouraged. Further medical and psychiatric assessment and provision of brief, trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy are warranted if clinically significant distress or functional impairment persists or worsens after 2 days or if the criteria for a diagnosis of acute stress disorder are met. Follow-up monitoring and rescreening are endorsed for at least 6 months for everyone who experiences significant acute posttraumatic stress. Four interventions that illustrate early intervention principles contained in the VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guideline are described.

Postdisaster psychological intervention since 9/11.

A wealth of research and experience after 9/11 has led to the development of evidence-based and evidence-informed guidelines and strategies to support the design and implementation of public mental health programs after terrorism and disaster. This article reviews advances that have been made in a variety of areas, including development of improved metrics and methodologies for conducting needs assessment, screening, surveillance, and program evaluation; clarification of risk and resilience factors as these relate to varying outcome trajectories for survivors and inform interventions; development and implementation of evidence-based and evidence-informed early, midterm, and late interventions for children, adults, and families; adaptation of interventions for cultural, ethnic, and minority groups; improvement in strategies to expand access to postdisaster mental health services; and enhancement of training methods and platforms for workforce development among psychologists, paraprofessionals, and other disaster responders. Continuing improvement of psychologists' national capacity to respond to catastrophic events will require more systematic research to strengthen the evidence base for postdisaster screening and interventions and effective methods and platforms for training. Policy decisions are clearly needed that enhance federal funding to increase availability and access to services, especially for longer term care. Traumatic bereavement represents a critical area for future research, as much needs to be done to clarify issues related to reactions and adaptation to a traumatic death.

Managing acute stress response to major trauma.

In this article, the authors review the current empiric literature on early interventions. Findings on the effects, course, help-seeking, and recovery from disasters are first reviewed, with recommendations given that are pertinent to intervention following mass casualties. In reviewing the most commonly used interventions, it is clear that evidence from well-controlled studies showing that early intervention can help prevent longer-term problems is limited. The authors discuss the approaches that have received the most attention or empiric support as early interventions following trauma, which include psychologic debriefing, cognitive-behavioral interventions, eye movement desensitization and processing (EMDR) and other neoteric approaches, and psychopharmacology. At this time, the most promising results for prevention of psychopathology have been achieved with brief four- or five-session cognitive-behavioral therapy. In contrast, randomized clinical trials on psychologic debriefing currently suggest that this approach is either ineffective at preventing psychopathology, or contributive to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Research support is currently lacking for EMDR and pharmacotherapy as early interventions. A major challenge to the field is to integrate the practical experience and knowledge of professional responders with well-controlled, timely intervention research, and to effectively disseminate these findings to practitioners in the field.