The effect of stressor severity on outcome following group debriefing

This analogue study reports data on the efficacy of group debriefing in the mitigation of distress for a stressful video, which had two levels of severity. It also provides a new procedure for use in experimental psychopathology studies. One hundred and nineteen participants were shown one of two stressful videos and, subsequently, 67 participants received group debriefing whilst 52 participants acted as a control. A statistical difference was found between the two groups for level of distress at follow-up, with those who had watched the more stressful video scoring higher on video distress and trauma-type symptomatology than those who watched the less stressful video. This was particularly the case for those who received debriefing—adding further caution to the longer-term effects of systematised group interventions following harrowing events.