Worksite Crisis Intervention Helped New Yorkers Curb Level of Mental Distress For Up to Two Years After the World Trade Center Disaster

NEW YORK CITY, Feb. 17 ??? New Yorkers who received professional emergency crisis counseling in the workplace following the World Trade Center disaster suffered from significantly fewer mental health problems for up to two years after the disaster occurred, according to a new scientific study by The New York Academy of Medicine. Research results will be presented at the 8th World Congress on Stress, Trauma and Coping on Saturday, Feb. 19 in Baltimore, and will be published in March in the Winter issue of the International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, a quarterly peer-reviewed journal.

City residents who participated in just two to three brief counseling sessions at work after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks enjoyed less long-term risk for binge drinking, alcohol dependence, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, major depression, anxiety, and overall mental health impairment than those who did not, Academy scientists have found.

This study has major implications for the use of emergency mental health treatment following terrorist attacks and other traumatic events worldwide, said principal investigator Joseph Boscarino, Ph.D., M.P.H., Senior Scientist in the Academy???s Division of Health and Science Policy. Although crisis counseling is widely used after disasters, its clinical effectiveness, safety, and long-term benefit was unknown prior to this research and has been challenged by other studies. Much of the prior knowledge was based on anecdotal observations and patients??? reports of satisfaction after counseling sessions, with little or no long-term follow-up. Scientists have been generally reluctant to conduct research among disaster victims for fear of causing additional suffering, Boscarino said, which doesn???t occur as long as proper safeguards are used.

???Based on our current findings, we suggest that well-structured crisis intervention services provided by professional mental health counselors should be considered as a first line of emergency management for those potentially affected by large-scale community disasters,??? he said. Mental health professionals often recommend crisis counseling for those affected by events like natural disasters, school shootings, terrorist attacks, and other sources of mass psychological trauma.

Researchers interviewed 1,681 adults one year (2002) and two years (late 2003/early 2004) after Sept. 11, analyzing alcohol abuse patterns and mental health status (including symptoms of PTSD and major depression) in the past year. They also analyzed lifetime history of depression, and current stressors other than Sept. 11 that may have increased their risk for poor mental health. Participants were also asked whether they had attended any counseling at work. Interviews were conducted via telephone in both English and Spanish.

Altogether, seven percent of survey participants???representing approximately 420,000 New York City adults???received some form of crisis intervention at their worksite by mental health professionals following Sept. 11. Most (85 percent) reported attending between one and three sessions. About two-thirds (60 to 70 percent) said they were instructed about stress symptoms, coping and relaxation strategies, positive thinking, stopping negative thoughts, evaluating thoughts, and dealing with emotions. Researchers found that by participating in just two to three professional counseling sessions, workers were effectively protected from becoming binge drinkers, becoming dependant upon alcohol, and developing PTSD symptoms or depression during the one year follow-up period.

???It appears that worksite professional crisis interventions provided by many New York City employers following the events of Sept. 11 had a beneficial impact on the mental status of employees across a spectrum of outcomes,??? Boscarino said. Since most New York City adults didn???t seek community-based counseling following Sept. 11 even though several agencies offered it free of charge, bringing counseling to the workplace appears to be the most effective mental health intervention.

The research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. Co-investigators on this study are Richard Adams, Ph.D., a Research Associate in the Academy???s Division of Health and Science Policy, and Charles Figley, Ph.D., of the Traumatology Institute at Florida State University. The New York Academy of Medicine, one of the country???s premier urban health policy and intervention centers, focuses on enhancing the health of people living in cities through research, education, advocacy, and prevention.

Posted on February 17, 2005

 Print   Subscribe

Contact:
Andrew J. Martin
Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10029
212-822-7285
amartin@nyam.org

Press Release Archive