Current psychiatry reports
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The debate over the use of psychological debriefing in the early aftermath of a traumatic event has raged for decades, yet little attention has been paid to its use with perhaps the most vulnerable of victims, children and adolescents. While recommendations against the use of group debriefing with adults seem to have been made based on research of individual debriefing, recommendations regarding its use with children have been made based on the adult literature. ⋯ While research does not currently evidence harm in the use of debriefing with children, there is no strong support for its use either. We present both clinical considerations and research implications as they relate to debriefing as well as what this debate has taught us about the challenges to disseminating and evaluating early crisis interventions in general.