Peer Delivered, Emotion Regulation-Focused Mental Health Prevention Training for Fire Fighter Trainees

Not Applicable

Interventions: Behavioral: Brief Unified Protocol
Behavioral: Psychoeducation

Brief Summary: The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if a peer-delivered emotion regulation training (Brief-Unified Protocol) workshop is effective for preventing posttraumatic stress and other psychological health symptoms in firefighter trainees. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Do firefighter recruits who receive peer-delivered Brief-Unified Protocol report lower PTSD symptom severity over time compared to those who receive psychoeducation?

* Do firefighter recruits who receive peer-delivered Brief-Unified Protocol report lower AUD, depression, anxiety, and functional impairment symptom severity over time compared to those who receive psychoeducation?

* Do changes in neuroticism or emotion regulation mediate the effect of receiving the Brief-Unified Protocol on the treatment outcomes?

Participants will:

* Participate in a Brief-Unified Protocol workshop or psychoeducation workshop during fire academy training.

* Complete a questionnaire prior to the workshop.

* Complete a questionnaire immediately following the workshop and follow up questionnaires at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after completing the fire academy.

Researchers will compare firefighters who receive a peer-delivered Brief-Unified Protocol workshop to firefighters who receive peer-delivered psychoeducation to see if the Brief-Unified Protocol is effective for preventing posttraumatic stress and other psychological health symptoms.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Brief Unified Protocol	Brief Unified Protocol	This workshop includes education regarding basic human emotions, why we have emotions, how they help us, how they can get in the way, and how they are related to psychological health problems, including among firefighters. Skills that are helpful in managing strong or unwanted emotions will be taught and practiced during the workshop. A workshop manual will be provided. Brief videos summarizing the material will be emailed over the course of the month following the workshop.
Psychoeducation	Psychoeducation	This workshop provides education regarding signs and symptoms of psychological health challenges that are most commonly experienced by firefighters. These include posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and alcohol and substance misuse. This workshop is a standard part of fire academy training. A workshop manual will be provided. Brief videos summarizing the material will be emailed over the course of the month following the workshop.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
PTSD Symptoms	6, 12, 18, and 24 months	PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5). Score Range: 0-80. Higher scores indicate greater severity.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Alcohol Use Disorder symptoms	6, 12, 18, and 24 months	Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Score Range: 0-40. Higher scores indicate a higher likelihood of alcohol dependence.
Functional Impairment	6, 12, 18, and 24 months	Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS). Score Range: 0-40. Higher scores indicate greater functional impairment.
Anxiety symptoms	6, 12, 18, and 24 months	Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7). Score Range: 0-21. Higher scores indicate greater severity.
Depression symptoms	6, 12, 18, and 24 months	Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Score Range: 0-27. Higher scores indicate greater severity.