School-based interventions to reduce PTSD among child and adolescent survivors of disasters
Citation: Fu C, Underwood C. A meta-review of school-based disaster interventions for child and adolescent survivors. Journal of Child Adolescent Mental Health. 2015;27(3):161-71.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: No.
Funding sources: Nothing noted.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for peer-reviewed literature about intervention programmes for children and adolescents exposed to a disaster caused by man or by natural hazards. They restricted their searches to articles published in English between 2000 and 2015. The authors included 11 articles from ten countries.
What works: Psycho-education and cognitive behavioural therapy were used most frequently after disasters caused by natural hazards. Often, these interventions were delivered by teachers. School-based post-disaster mental health and psychosocial support efforts reduced post-traumatic stress symptoms.
What doesn’t work: Nothing noted.
What is uncertain: Interventions that involved creative expression and body-oriented strategies may be beneficial. Outcomes for interventions that incorporated physical exercise, art therapy, and narrative stories to aid memory reconstruction were uncertain.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that cross-cultural research was needed to determine transferability to different contexts.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of age.
This summary was prepared by Briann Mensour, checked by Jawaria Karim, and finalized by William Summerskill.