Predictors of response after single session interventions for emotional distress: using enhanced psychoeducation in crisis situations

Abstract

Objective: Single-session interventions are an effective strategy for reducing emotional distress. Enhanced psychoeducation, which includes empathic listening, risk stratification, symptom monitoring, and habit modification is particularly suitable for single-session interventions. We investigated predictors of response to an online enhanced psychoeducation intervention among essential service professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.

Methods: The TelePSI Project, financed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, was a nationwide initiative that served more than 3,300 individuals in various psychotherapeutic modalities. Data were collected from April 2020 to December 2021. We included all participants with high levels of emotional distress who received single-session interventions. The final sample included 460 individuals (89.1% women, 81.1% health professionals). After 1 month, 300 participants were reassessed.

Results: Overuse of social media, use of social networks to contact family and friends, playing video games, smoking, drinking alcohol, and spending time with pets were associated with less improvement in symptoms, whereas playing an instrument and previous psychological treatment were associated with greater symptom improvement. This highlights the impact of lifestyle factors on the efficacy of single-session interventions.

Conclusion: These results underscore the importance of considering individual lifestyle factors when implementing single-session interventions and contribute to a growing body of evidence that supports tailored application of psychoeducational strategies in mental health interventions, particularly in high-stress environments.

Keywords: COVID-19; mental health; pandemics; psychological distress.

Figure 1. Linear mixed model interaction for independent variables with significant baseline differences and significant estimates of interaction between factor and time, considering α = 0.05 (n=300). The graphs correspond to the models presented in Table 3: (A) the effects of listening to music on depression score, (B) the effects of listening to music on irritability score, (C) the effects of poor sleep on sleep score, and (D) the effects of arguing/“getting stressed” on social media on life satisfaction score. Red color means “Yes” (positive answer) and blue means “No” (negative answer) for all presented subgraphs.