Psychological and Psychosocial Intervention With War-Affected Children

An RCT Comparing Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (a Specific Psychological Intervention) and A Child Friendly Space (a Non-trauma Focused Psychosocial Intervention) in Reducing Psychological Distress Among War-affected Children

The investigators are interested in knowing whether a group-based, trauma-focused intervention (Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is superior to a more general, non trauma-focused, psychosocial intervention (Child Friendly Spaces) in reducing post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety and conduct problems and increasing pro-social behavior among war-affected children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depression; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Anxiety; Conduct; Pro-social Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Behavioral: Child Friendly Space

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Congo
  • South Kivu
    • Mwenga, South Kivu, Congo
      • Child Friendly Space

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 7 years to 18 years (ADULT, CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• under 18 years of age,
• witness to a violent event involving a real or perceived direct threat to life,
• ability to attend a 3-week intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

• psychosis,
• mental retardation,
• inability to understand Swahili,
• severe emotional & behavioral problems that made group participation impossible

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: DOUBLE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (Cohen, Mannarino, Deblinger, 2006; Smith and Saunders, 2005) is a child-friendly, manualised psychological intervention for children who experience nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, anger, social isolation, poor concentration or self-blame after experiencing or witnessing a violent and terrifying life event (e.g. rape, murder, abduction etc). This intervention was culturally modified for use with war-affected children.	Behavioral: Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; 9 sessions of manualised, culturally modified, group-based trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy
Active Comparator: A Child Friendly Space; A Child Friendly Space is a psychosocial intervention combining creative (e.g. art), imaginative (e.g. drama), physical (e.g. football), communicative (e.g. group discussions) and manipulative activities (e.g. story telling). It aids children's natural development by providing a safe place for children to learn, express themselves, grow and develop, supported by trained animators and peer educators.	Behavioral: Child Friendly Space; 9 sessions of a manualised, culturally appropriate, non trauma-focused psychosocial intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms as Measured by the University of California Los Angelus Post Traumatic Stress Disorder -Reaction Index	The UCLA PTSD Reaction Index is a self-report questionnaire that measures exposure to traumatic events and assesses post-tramatic stress symptoms in school-age children and adolescents. The Congolese Swahili version used in the study had 22 items and assesses the frequency of occurrence of PTSD symptoms during the past week (rated from 0 = none of the time to 4 = most of the time). The scale ranged from 0 (no symptoms) to 88 (highest score possible). Although no cut-off score was used, the higher the score of the scale the higher the number of PTSD symptoms experienced.	baseline, 3 week post-intervention and 6-month follow up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Internalizing Symptoms as Measured by the African Youth Psychosocial Assessment Instrument	The African Youth Psychosocial Assessment Instrument is a self-report questionnaire that measures internalizing, externalizing, conduct and pro-social (daily life functioning) skills symptoms. The Congolese Swahili version of the AYPA contained 19 questions on internalizing symptoms and assesses the frequency of occurrence of internalizing symptoms during the past week (rated from 0 = none of the time to 4 = most of the time). The lowest score obtainable on the measure was 0, while the highest score obtainable was 76. Although no cut-off score was used, the higher the score on the scale, the greater the psychosocial distress being reported.	baseline, 3 week post-intervention and 6 month follow up
Change in Externalizing Symptoms as Measured by the African Youth Psychosocial Assessment Instrument	The African Youth Psychosocial Assessment Instrument is a self-report questionnaire that measures internalizing, externalizing, conduct and pro-social (daily life functioning) skills symptoms. The Congolese Swahili version of the AYPA contained 10 questions about symptoms of conduct disorder and assesses the frequency of occurrence of externalizing symptoms during the past week (rated from 0 = none of the time to 4 = most of the time). The lowest score obtainable on the measure was 0, while the highest score obtainable was 40. Although no cut-off score was used, the higher the score on the scale, the greater the psychosocial adjustment difficulties being reported.	baseline, 3-week post-intervention, 6-month follow up
Change in Pro-Social Behaviors as Measured by the African Youth Psychosocial Assessment Instrument	The African Youth Psychosocial Assessment Instrument is a self-report questionnaire that measures internalizing, externalizing, conduct and pro-social (daily life functioning) skills symptoms. The Congolese Swahili version of the AYPA contained 8 questions about pro-social behavior and assesses the frequency of occurrence of positive behaviors (e.g. sharing with others, listening to others and elders etc.) during the past week (rated from 0 = none of the time to 4 = most of the time). The lowest score obtainable on the measure was 0, while the highest score obtainable was 32. Although no cut-off score was used, the higher the score on the scale, the more pro-social the individual's behavior is.	baseline, 3-week post-intervention, 6-month follow up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Queen's University, Belfast
• Collaborators: UNICEF; Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal
• Investigators: Study Director: Dr Ciarán Shannon, BA, MA, DClin, British Psychological Society (Chartered Clinical Psychologist)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: October 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 6, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 10, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): January 13, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 9, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 6, 2019
• Last Verified: April 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy; War-affected Children; Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms; Psychosocial Distress
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
• Other Study ID Numbers: PREC73-2011