Dissecting the Controversy about Early Psychological Response to Disasters and Trauma

"Reviewers from the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently concluded that some form of early intervention by a trained professional may turn out to be important in the short-term and prevent some serious mental health problems. But basically, the quality of the evidence is just too low to be sure about a lot. Which is a recipe for ongoing controversy.

"You can read some more detail about the technical differences in these reviews here. While several factors play a role in different review conclusions, the conclusion about harm depended mostly on a single trial that had extensive weaknesses. Without more solid evidence, we really just can’t know for sure.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/05/21/dissecting-the-controversy-about-early-psychological-response-to-disasters-and-trauma/