School-based CBT group intervention for refugee children who have experienced war-related trauma

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a school-based group intervention designed for children who have experienced trauma. Twenty-six children (aged 11–15 years) who were refugees or asylum-seekers from war-affected countries participated. The manual-based intervention consisted of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques and was implemented within secondary schools. The treatment group (n = 15) received six sessions of group CBT over a 6-week period, while the control group (n = 11) were placed on a waiting list for 6 weeks and then invited to enter treatment. Children in the CBT group showed statistically signifi-cant, but clinically modest improvements following the intervention, with decreases in overall severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Significant improvements were also found in overall behavioural difficulties and emotional symptoms. Children in the waiting list control group did not show any improve-ments over the same period. However, follow-up data, which were only available for a small subset of eight children, suggest that gains in the CBT group were not maintained at 2-month follow-up

Mental health of unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents previously held in British detention centres

Aim: To investigate whether the mental health of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) was negatively affected by having their ages disputed and being detained. Method: Participants within this cross-sectional study were 35 UASC, aged between 13 and 17 when they were detained. Some years later, a team of child mental health professionals interviewed them to assess their current mental health and to determine, as far as possible, the impact that having their age disputed and being detained may have had on their mental health. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV), Reactions of Adolescents to Traumatic Stress (RATS), Stressful Life Events (SLE) and Detention Experiences Checklist–UK version (DEC-UK) were administered. Results: The vast majority of UASC reported being negatively affected. Based on diagnostic interviews using the SCID-IV, self-report measures and contemporaneous records, the professionals reported a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) developing in 29% ( n = 10), PTSD exacerbated in 51% ( n = 18), major depressive disorder (MDD) developing in 23% ( n = 8) and MDD exacerbated in 40% ( n = 14). A total of 3 years post-detention, 89% ( n = 31) met diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders and reported high PTSD symptoms. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of psychiatric disorder. The additional stress of age dispute procedures and detention was judged to have been harmful. </jats:sec