Relatively little attention has yet been given to the prevention or amelioration of the psychosocial effects of road accidents. This chapter reviews the published literature on the prevention of post-accident psychopathology, and reports two recent studies on whether and how far early psychological interventions can reduce the incidence and severity of psychiatric complications after road accidents. The probability of being involved in a road accident is high, and the incidence of post-accident psychiatric problems is also high, but not particularly related to the objective severity of the accident or threat to life. There is much interest among clinicians of the possibility of preventing the development of post-traumatic psychopathology. Studies have already been made of whether early psychological intervention could prevent the development of psychopathology after trauma, for combat and other traumas, transport disasters, and interventions after road accidents. The chapter reports two studies, one in London and one in Oxford, which were prospective randomised controlled trials. They were both designed to test the effectiveness of a single early clinically feasible psychological intervention. They provided no evidence for the preventive effect of an early debriefing intervention after injury in a road accident.
Abstract