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Internet Cognitive Resilience Training Beneficial to Paramedic Trainees

APA Election Results: Rahn Bailey is Next President-Elect
Rahn Kennedy Bailey, M.D., an assistant dean for health equity at Louisiana State University Health Science Center and psychiatric medical director of Orleans Parish Criminal Justice Center, has been elected APA's 2026-2027 president-elect. Bailey’s term will begin after the APA 2026 Annual Meeting, when current President-Elect Mark Rapaport, M.D., begins his one-year term as president. Learn more and see all the 2026 election results here.
 
 
paramedic_iStock-2162232612Providing internet-delivered cognitive training in resilience (iCT-R) to student paramedics may lower their risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) down the road, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.
 
 
Why It’s Relevant
Paramedics face significant stressors such as irregular shift patterns, time-sensitive response targets, and exposure to potentially traumatic events, all of which raise their risk for MDD and PTSD compared with the general population.
 
By the Numbers
  • The study investigators analyzed data from 570 student paramedics, of whom 195 were randomized to iCT-R, 197 to psychoeducation, and 178 to standard support services. iCT-R and psychoeducation each involved six weekly online modules followed by monthly booster exercises for six months.
  • iCT-R uses cognitive therapy to help individuals adapt to stress and trauma and avoid rumination. Psychoeducation provides information on sleep, stress, depression, anger, mindfulness, and PTSD.
  • At one-year follow-up, the iCT-R group had 80% lower odds of meeting the criteria for PTSD or MDD than the psychoeducation group and 75% lower odds of meeting the criteria for these disorders than the standard support group.
  • Providing iCT-R to 18 to 24 paramedic trainees would prevent one case of PTSD or MDD
The Other Side
Most of the participants were White, which limits generalizability to more diverse populations. The overall number of PTSD or MDD diagnoses at follow-up was low across all three groups, which limits the power to investigate predictors of outcome.
 
What’s Next
“It would be of interest to determine whether effects persist at two-year follow-up, which is currently being analyzed, as well as to explore whether modifying the intervention for trainees of high-risk occupations, such as firefighters and police officers, would show similar effects,” the researchers wrote.
 
Related Information
 
Source
Jennifer Wild, et. al. Cognitive resilience training to prevent PTSD and major depressive disorder in paramedic recruits: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open. Published February 9, 2026. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.57241
 
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/blackCAT)