SynthesisJournal of traumatic stress2023
We need to build the evidence: A systematic review of psychological first aid on mental health and well-being.
Synthesis in Journal of traumatic stress, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- Single-session intervention with and without video support to prevent the worsening of emotional distress among healthcare workers during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a randomised clinical trial.BMJ mental health · 2025Trial
- Implementation facilitators and barriers of stress first aid to protect mental health of frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2024Trial
- The effect of a single session of psychological first aid in the emergency department on PTSD and depressive symptoms three months post-intervention: results of a randomised controlled trial.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Trial
- Mediators of change in a condensed online exposure-based intervention provided soon after trauma: insights from a randomised controlled trial.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Trial
- Improving mental health following multiple disasters in Australia: a randomized controlled trial of the Skills for Life Adjustment and Resilience (SOLAR) programme.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2023Trial
- Crisis responders' perspectives on animal-assisted crisis response in acute trauma settings: a qualitative study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2026Article
- Beyond crisis: rethinking the evaluation of psychosocial interventions after mass casualty incidents.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- Towards scalable psychological first aid training: an autoethnographic exploration of the potential of large language models in simulation-based learning.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- Cumulative trauma, neural circuits, and burnout: an integrative model of healthcare worker post-traumatic stress syndromes.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Review
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of EMDR therapy for children and adolescents in Ukraine during war.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating an Adapted Stress First Aid and Psychological First Aid Model in a Hospital Setting: Results from a Multi-year Study.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2026Article
- Psychological Interventions for Pregnant Women in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Incidents: A Systematic Review.Health science reports · 2026Review
- Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Psychological First Aid Training for Community Nurses in China: A Quasi-Experimental Study on Knowledge and Skills Enhancement.Nursing open · 2026Article
- Adapting and Co-Producing a Psychological First Aid Intervention for Care Home Staff: A Person-Based Approach to Enhance Workforce Resilience.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Psychological First Aid for People Affected by Skin Diseases.Indian dermatology online journal · 2026Article
- Developing, piloting, and evaluating a psychological first aid training for medical students in South Africa.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Advances in time-sensitive assessment and intervention for acute stress reaction.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Family-Centered Psychosocial Interventions for Disaster-Affected Children Across Developmental Stages: A Scoping Review.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2026Review
- Developing and feasibility testing of Hamdard Force: an intervention to build the capacity of a community mental health workforce in Pakistan.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia 9 months after the East Palestine train derailment.Journal of traumatic stress · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Ensuring effective mental health and psychosocial support is crucial following exposure to a potentially traumatic event and can have long-term consequences for individuals, families, and communities. Psychological first aid (PFA) has become a widespread intervention of choice following exposure to conflict or disaster; however, its impact is unknown. This systematic review assessed PFA efficacy in improving the mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals exposed to potentially traumatic events. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, PTSDpubs, and EMBASE for peer reviewed studies evaluating programmatic outcomes of PFA, or an adapted intervention, published in English before March 9, 2021. Studies evaluating training outcomes or program feasibility were excluded. The primary outcomes were reported measures of participant mental health and psychosocial well-being, with narrative results presented for each. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was applied. Of 9,048 potentially eligible citations, 12 studies with a total of 1,437 participants met the inclusion criteria. Only one study was a randomized controlled trial. The findings from all studies suggest a positive impact of PFA, with most reporting reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, and distress, as well as improved ratings of mood, the experience of safety, connectedness, and a sense of control, among youth and adults. Risk of bias was generally high. Inconsistent intervention components, insufficient evaluation methodologies, and a high risk of bias within the reviewed studies present challenges in assessing PFA efficacy, and an imbalance between popular support for PFA and scant evidence of outcome data exists. Further research is needed to justify the proliferation of PFA.
Indexed as
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.