A digital imagery-competing task intervention for stopping intrusive memories in trauma-exposed health-care staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: a Bayesian adaptive randomised clinical trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Psychological trauma, such as witnessing an untimely or gruesome death, commonly provokes intrusive memories that might persist for days to years with adverse effects on individual mental and physical health and functioning. Despite the global prevalence of trauma, scalable evidence-based interventions are absent. Reducing the impact of intrusive memories is crucial for people frequently exposed to trauma, such as health-care workers. This study aimed to determine whether a brief digital imagery-competing task intervention (ICTI) reduced intrusive memory frequency after 4 weeks. Harms were also assessed.

Methods

The GAINS-02 decentralised digital, parallel-group Bayesian adaptive randomised controlled trial tested a brief ICTI against an active control and treatme

SUBMITTER: Beckenstrom AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12916470 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature