Most people who experience a potentially traumatic event (PTE) recover on their own. A small group of individuals develops psychological complaints but is often not detected in time or guidance to care is suboptimal. To identify these individuals and encourage them to seek help, a web-based self-help test called MIRROR– Mobile Insight in Risk, Resilience and Online Referral – was developed.
MIRROR takes an innovative approach since it integrates both negative and positive outcomes of PTEs and time since the event, and provides direct feedback to the user.
To assess MIRROR’s usage, examine its psychometric properties (factor structure, internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity) and evaluate how well it classifies respondents into different outcome categories compared to reference measures. Methods: MIRROR was embedded in the website of Victim Support Netherlands so visitors could use it. We compared MIRROR’s outcomes to reference measures of PTSD symptoms (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5), depression, anxiety, stress (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale - 21), psychological resilience (Resilience Evaluation Scale) and positive mental health (Mental Health Continuum Short Form).
The conclusions of the study are that MIRROR is a valid and reliable self-help test to identify negative (PTSD complaints) and positive outcomes (psychosocial functioning and resilience) of PTEs. MIRROR is an easily accessible online tool that can help victims of PTEs to timely identify psychological complaints and to find appropriate support, a tool that might be highly needed in times of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The eMEN project made it possible to do the research needed to validate the MIRROR. The eMEN team is very happy with the results and hope that the tool is going to be widely used in the near future.
