'Revisiting the debriefing debate: does psychological debriefing reduce PTSD symptomology following work-related trauma? A meta-analysis' and 'Assessing alexithymia in forensic practice: psychometric properties of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Perth Alexithymia Scale in a sample of adult male prisoners'

Stileman, Harry (2022). 'Revisiting the debriefing debate: does psychological debriefing reduce PTSD symptomology following work-related trauma? A meta-analysis' and 'Assessing alexithymia in forensic practice: psychometric properties of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Perth Alexithymia Scale in a sample of adult male prisoners'. University of Birmingham. Clin.Psy.D.

Preview

Stileman2022ClinPsyD.pdf
Text - Accepted Version
Available under License All rights reserved.
Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

LITERATURE REVIEW: Psychological debriefing is an early post-trauma intervention which aims to prevent the development of PTSD and accelerate normal recovery through discussing, validating, and normalising group members responses to trauma. While originally designed in the 1980s for groups of emergency service personnel, the scope of psychological debriefing extended to individual primary victims of trauma. A Cochrane review in 2002 concluded that psychological debriefing was ineffective, yet some authors have argued that many of the studies that informed the Cochrane review did not adhere to key elements of psychological debriefing. This meta-analysis sought to re-examine the effectiveness of psychological debriefing in preventing or reducing PTSD symptoms following work-related trauma. Appropriate studies were selected from three databases (MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO). Inclusion criteria was intentionally broad so that features of psychological debriefing that may determine its effectiveness could be explored through a series of subgroup analyses. The overall synthesis did not find consistent evidence that psychological debriefing helps to prevent or reduce PTSD symptoms following work-related trauma. Shortcomings in the methodology and reporting of many of the studies meant that several important subgroup analyses could not be conducted. Further well-designed studies in this field are warranted to ensure that employees exposed to potentially traumatic events receive the effective support they need and deserve.

EMPIRICAL PAPER: Alexithymia is a trans-diagnostic construct comprised of a cluster of difficulties relating to emotional processing: difficulties identifying feelings, difficulties describing feelings and externally oriented thinking. Alexithymia is positively associated with several risk factors for offending behaviour and higher levels of alexithymia have been found in violent offenders. Consequently, it has become an area of interest in criminological research and there have been recommendations to consider alexithymia in risk assessments and interventions among violent offenders. This study sought to test and compare the psychometric properties of two measures of alexithymia in a forensic sample: the well-established 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the recently developed Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ). The internal consistency, convergent validity, and factorial validity of both the TAS-20 and PAQ were examined using a sample of 78 adult male prisoners in the UK. Both measures were found to assess a similar multifaceted alexithymia construct. However, the externally oriented thinking subscale of the TAS-20 had poor internal consistency and factor loadings. Conversely, the PAQ was found to have robust psychological properties across all subscales, while also offering the added benefit of valence-specific measurement. These findings provide preliminary support for the PAQ as a measure of alexithymia within both forensic practice and research.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Clin.Psy.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Clin.Psy.D.

Supervisor(s):