Effectiveness of Narrative Exposure Therapy Among Refugee Children and Adolescents

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Treatment as Usual; Narrative Exposure Therapy
• Interventions: Behavioral: Narrative Exposure Therapy; Behavioral: Treatment as Usual

• Registration Number: NCT02425280
• Lead Sponsor: Tampere University

Brief Summary

This study aims to understand how war trauma affects children's and adolescents' memory functions and mental health, and whether Narrative Exposure Therapy is effective in enhancing optimal memory functions and alleviating mental health problems. The study analyzes the mental health and cognitive and emotional healing mechanisms of therapeutic intervention among war-affected children and adolescents.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-11
• Study First Submitted: 2015-04-15
• Study First Submitted QC: 2015-04-22
• Study First Posted: 2015-04-23
• Primary Completion: 2018-04
• Study Completion: 2018-04
• Status Verified: 2018-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-10-15
• Last Update Posted: 2018-10-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 50

Inclusion Criteria

• 9-17 years old
• has spent some part of her/his life living in a country where organized violence was taking place, or at a refugee camp
• suffers from significant stress symptoms thought be trauma-related

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Exclusion Criteria

• acute psychosis
• intellectual disability

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Narrative Exposure Therapy	Narrative Exposure Therapy	For the intervention group receiving Narrative Exposure Therapy treatment, the intervention will last for approximately three months and include 10-12 weekly sessions of 60-90 minutes. The course of the intervention will follow the NET manual (Schauer et al., 2011).
Treatment as Usual	Treatment as Usual	For the TAU control group, participants will receive the usual care for posttraumatic stress symptoms currently offered by each unit.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Depression as measured by Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children	9 months
Resilience as measured by Child and Youth Resilience Measure	9 months
Post-traumatic Stress as measured by Revised Impact of Event Scale	9 months
Psychological Distress as measured by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire	9 months
Cognitive Performance as measured by Working Memory Test Battery for Children	9 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Quality of Traumatic Memory as measured by Trauma Memory Quality Questionnaire	9 months
Trauma Related Cognitions as measured by Children's Post Traumatic Cognitions Inventory	9 months
General functioning of autobiographical memory as measured by reported life events	9 months

Trial Locations

Locations (3)

Centre for Torture Survivors; 🇫🇮 Helsinki, Finland

Family Counselling Centre of the City of Tampere; 🇫🇮 Tampere, Finland

Psychiatric Clinic for Traumatized Children at Tampere University Hospital; 🇫🇮 Tampere, Finland