Abstract
The study, published in the Zeitschrift für Psychodrama und Soziometrie, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Evidence-Based Trauma Stabilisation (EBTS) Programme. The idea of the programme was born out of the current and pressing need of more effective work with refugee, asylum seeking and immigrant families. The EBTS-Programme is based on a psychodrama-with-children approach, created by Aichinger and Hall (2017) and is suitable for parent-child pairs. The study has a within-subject design with two measurements: pre-test before attendance to the programme and post-test after completion of the programme. The psychological instruments, administered in order to measure the effectiveness of the intervention, assessed PTSD symptoms and the level of depression in both children and parents. Fifteen children and 16 mothers from Germany and Bulgaria participated in the study. The results showed significant decrease in PTSD intrusion, PTSD arousal, depression, and dissociation in children. There is a decrease in all scales in the mothers’ results but they did not reach significancy. Only one decrease was significant, mothers were more likely to share problems concerning their children after the intervention.
Zusammenfassung
Die in der Zeitschrift für Psychodrama und Soziometrie veröffentlichte Studie zielte darauf ab, die Wirksamkeit des Programms zur evidenzbasierten Traumastabilisierung (EBTS) zu evaluieren. Die Idee des Programms entstand aus dem gegenwärtigen Bedürfnis nach einer effektiveren Arbeit mit Flüchtlings‑, Asylbewerber- und Einwandererfamilien. Das EBTS-Programm basiert auf einem von Aichinger und Holl (2017) entwickelten Psychodrama-mit-Kindern-Ansatz und ist für Eltern-Kind-Paare geeignet. Die Studie hat ein fachinternes Design mit zwei Messungen: Pre-Test vor der Teilnahme am Programm und Post-Test nach Abschluss des Programms. Die psychologischen Instrumente, die zur Messung der Wirksamkeit der Intervention verabreicht wurden, bewerteten die PTBS-Symptome und den Grad der Depression sowohl bei Kindern als auch bei Eltern. An der Studie nahmen 15 Kinder und 16 Mütter aus Deutschland und Bulgarien teil. Die Ergebnisse zeigten eine signifikante Abnahme der PTBS-Intrusion, der PTBS-Erregung, der Depression und der Dissoziation bei Kindern. Es gab eine Abnahme aller Skalen in den Ergebnissen der Mütter, aber es erreichte keine Signifikanz. Nur ein Rückgang ist signifikant: Mütter waren nach der Intervention eher bereit, ihre Probleme mit ihren Kindern mitzuteilen.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cited Literature
Aichinger, A. (2013). Einzel- und Familientherapie mit Kindern: Kinderpsychodrama. Vol. 3. Wiesbaden: Springer.
Aichinger, A., & Holl, W. (2017). Group therapy with children—psychodrama with children. Wiesbaden: Springer.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., Ball, R., & Ranieri, W. (1996a). Comparison of Beck depression inventories—IA and II in psychiatric outpatients. Journal of personality assessment, 67(3), 588–597. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa6703_13.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996b). Manual for the Beck depression inventory-II. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation.
Bemak, F., & Chung, R. C. (2000). Psychological intervention with immigrants and refugees. In J. F. Aponte & J. Wohl (Eds.), Psychological intervention and cultural diversity (pp. 75–91). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Blevins, C. A., Weathers, F. W., Davis, M. T., Witte, T. K., & Domino, J. L. (2015). The posttraumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM‑5 (PCL-5): development and initial psychometric evaluation. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28, 489–498. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22059.
Bogic, M., Ajdukovic, D., Bremner, S., Franciskovic, T., Galeazzi, M. G., et al. (2012). Factors associated with mental disorders in long-settled war refugees: refugees from the former Yugoslavia in Germany, Italy and the UK. British Journal of Psychiatry, 200, 216–223. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.110.084764.
Briere, J., Johnson, K., Bissada, A., Damon, L., Crouch, J., Gil, E., Hanson, R., & Ernst, V. (2001). The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC): reliability and association with abuse exposure in a multi-site study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25(8), 1001–1014.
Bronstein, I., & Montgomery, P. (2011). Psychological distress in refugee children: a systematic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 14, 44–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-010-0081-0.
Cohen, J. (1962). The statistical power of abnormal-social psychological research: a review. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 65(3), 145. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045186.
d’Ardenne, P., Ruaro, L., Cestari, L., Fakhoury, W., & Priebe, S. (2007). Does interpreter-mediated CBT with traumatized refugee people work? A comparison of patient outcomes in East London. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 35, 293–301. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465807003645.
Ehntholt, K. A., Smith, P. A., & Yule, W. (2005). School-based cognitive-behavioural therapy group intervention for refugee children who have experienced war-related trauma. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 10, 235–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104505051214.
Ellis, B. H., Miller, A. B., Abdi, S., Barrett, C., Blood, E. A., & Betancourt, T. S. (2013). Multi-tier mental health program for refugee youth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81, 129–140. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029844.
Eurostat News Release (2019). 46. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7203832/3-04032016-AP-EN.pdf/790eba01-381c-4163-bcd2-a54959b99ed6. Accessed: August 2019.
Fazel, M., Reed, R., Panter-Brick, C., & Stein, A. (2011). Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in high-income countries: risk and protective factors. Lancet, 379, 266–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60051-2.
Fazel, M., Wheeler, J., & Danesh, J. (2005). Prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000 refugees resettled in western countries: a systematic review. Lancet, 365, 1309–1314. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)61027-6.
Flegelskamp, S., Mutafchieva, M., & Kauppila, R. EBTS-Programme Manual. 2021.
Grawe, K. (2004). Neuropsychotherapie. Göttingen: Hogrefe.
Keeran, D. (2015). Refugee Interview Questionnaire for adults, adolescents, and children. Health & Medicine. https://www.slideshare.net/danielkeeran/refugee-interview-questionnaire?qid=db6a99eb-ceaf-476a-8a73-b6a8b5efb80f&v=&b=&from_search=5. Accessed: August 2019.
van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score—brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York: Penguin books.
Leenarts, L. E., Diehle, J., Doreleijers, T. A., Jansma, E. P., & Lindauer, R. J. (2013). Evidence-based treatments for children with trauma-related psychopathology as a result of childhood maltreatment: a systematic review. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 22(5), 269–283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-012-0367-5.
Nicholl, C., & Thompson, A. (2004). The psychological treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adult refugees: a review of the current state of psychological therapies. Journal of Mental Health, 13, 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638230410001729807.
Nickerson, A., Bryant, R. A., Silove, D., & Steel, Z. (2011). A critical review of psychological treatments of posttraumatic stress disorder in refugees. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 399–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.10.004.
Oras, R., de Ezpeleta, S. C., & Ahmad, A. (2004). Treatment of traumatized refugee children with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in a psychodynamic context. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 58, 199–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039480410006232.
Otto, M. W., Hinton, D., Korbly, N. B., Chea, A., Ba, P., Gershuny, B. S., et al. (2003). Treatment of pharmacotherapy-refractory posttraumatic stress disorder among Cambodian refugees: a pilot study of combination treatment of cognitive-behavior therapy vs. setraline alone. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 1271–1276. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(03)00032-9.
Paniagua, F. A. (2005). Assessing and treating culturally diverse clients: practical guide. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Paunovic, N., & Ost, L. (2001). Cognitive-behavior therapy vs. exposure therapy in the treatment of PTSD in refugees. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 1183–1197. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(00)00093-0.
Porter, M., & Haslam, N. (2005). Pre-displacement and post-displacement factors associated with mental health of refugee and internally displaced persons. JAMA, 294, 602–612. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.294.5.602.
Stepakoff, S., Hubbard, J., Katoh, M., Falk, E., Mikulu, J. B., Nkhoma, P., & Omagwa, Y. (2006). Trauma healing in refugee camps in Guinea: a psychosocial program for Liberian and Sierra Leonean survivors of torture and war. The American Psychologist, 61(8), 921–932. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.61.8.921.
Sue, S., Zane, N., Nagayama Hall, G. C., & Berger, L. K. (2009). The case for cultural competency in psychotherapeutic interventions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 525–548. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163651.
Tyrer, R. A., & Fazel, M. (2014). School and community-based interventions for refugee and asylum seeking children: a systematic review. PLOS ONE, 9(5), e97977. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097977.
Weiner, D. A., Schneider, A., & Lyons, J. S. (2009). Evidence-based treatment for trauma among culturally diverse foster care youth: Treatment retention and outcomes. Children and Youth Services review, 3(11), 1199–1205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.08.013.
Further Reading
Jordans, M., Tol, W., Komproe, I., & de Jong, J. (2009). Systematic review of evidence and treatment approaches: Psychosocial and mental health care for children in war. Child and Adolescents Mental Health, 14, 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-3588.2008.00515.x.
Funding
The study was funded by Erasmus+ Programme: Adult Education: Cooperation for innovations and exchange of good practices in transnational Strategic Partnerships (2017-1-FI01-KA204-034785).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gotseva-Balgaranova, K., Popivanov, I.D. & Mutafchieva, M. Impact evaluation of the evidence-based trauma stabilisation programme for refugee, asylum seeking and immigrant families. Z Psychodrama Soziom 19 (Suppl 1), 147–160 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11620-020-00568-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11620-020-00568-8