Effectiveness of Brief Interventions for Sexual Assault Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sexual assault is a pervasive social issue worldwide, with significant harmful impacts on survivors' mental health and well-being. Sexual assault services that provide specialist crisis and therapeutic programs are contending with long waiting lists. Brief interventions are emerging as a potential strategy to provide timely care, but it is important to know whether these approaches remain effective in improving patient outcomes.

To synthesize evidence informing the effectiveness of brief interventions on person-centered outcomes for people who have experienced sexual assault.

Four databases were systematically searched for trials testing the effectiveness of brief interventions (≤6 sessions) for sexual assault survivors. Studies were appraised, and data was extracted. Results from trials with homogenous data were combined in meta-analyses, and evidence certainty was assessed using GRADE. Remaining studies were synthesized descriptively.

Eighteen studies were included. Meta-analyses of randomized trials (n = 7) provide moderate certainty evidence that brief interventions improve symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (6 studies), depression (4 studies), and anxiety (2 studies). Results across other controlled and single-group pre-post studies further supported these findings.

Brief interventions can have a significant impact on reducing mental health symptoms for survivors who have experienced a sexual assault, providing support for the use of these models of care to broaden the reach and accessibility of sexual assault support services. There is limited evidence about other person-centered outcomes, such as quality of life measures, when considering brief interventions.