Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Kosovar High School Students Using Mind-Body Skills Groups

February 2, 2015 updated by: James S. Gordon, M.D., The Center for Mind-Body Medicine

Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Kosovar High School Students Using Mind-Body Skills Groups: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the participation in a group program which includes meditation, biofeedback, drawings, autogenic training, genograms, and a variety of movement and breathing techniques will decrease symptoms of posttraumatic stress in high school students.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The objective of this study is to determine whether participation in a group program incorporating mind-body techniques decreases symptoms of posttraumatic stress in adolescents. Students will be screened for posttraumatic stress using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and eighty-two qualifying students will be randomly assigned to a 12-session mind-body group program or a wait-list delayed intervention group. The program will be conducted by the teachers at a high school in Kosovo and include meditation, biofeedback, drawings, autogenic training, genograms, and a variety of movement and breathing techniques. Changes in posttraumatic stress symptoms will be measured using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

82

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years to 19 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Students having posttraumatic stress (PTSD) as defined according to a scoring algorithm of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire previously described by the Harvard Refugee Trauma group and used in a Kosovar Albanian population. This definition of PTSD requires a score of 3 or 4, on a Likert scale of 1-4, on at least one of the four of the reexperiencing symptoms (Criterion B), at least 3 of the 7 avoidance and numbing symptoms (Criterion C), and at least 2 of the 5 arousal symptoms (Criterion D) in addition to exposure to a traumatic event (Criterion A).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No specific exclusion criteria. Students having PTSD symptoms as defined above may participate in the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mind-Body Skills Groups
12 week mind-body skills group program including guided imagery, relaxation techniques,autogenic training, meditation, biofeedback, drawings, genograms and movement techniques.
12 week mind-body skills group program including guided imagery, relaxation techniques,autogenic training, meditation, biofeedback, drawings, genograms and movement techniques.
No Intervention: Delayed Intervention
Comparison group not receiving intervention until after the initial intervention was completed.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Harvard Trauma Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks, 3 months
The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire measures PTSD Symptoms. This scale has 16 items and is rated on a Likert scale from 1-4. The total score is sum of the scores divided by the number of items. Higher scores indicated higher levels of PTSD symptoms.
Baseline, 12 weeks, 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2004

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2005

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 26, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

August 29, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 16, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 2, 2015

Last Verified

February 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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