The constant influx of refugees, including many unaccompanied minors, fuels the search for appropriate, low-threshold, brief psychological interventions. Many refugees have suffered severe psychological trauma, thus calling for appropriate psychosocial intervention programs. Existing approaches largely focus on adults and those few that target adolescents are not adapted to unaccompanied minors who have an elevated risk for trauma-related symptomatology due to low levels of social support. The present pilot study evaluates the effectiveness of a brief, six-session, preventive resilience training for unaccompanied refugee minors. The program was offered to all residents of a refugee camp (no inclusion criteria). Participants (N = 55) were male minors from Afghanistan aged 14-17 years. Participants were randomized to either a wait-list control group or intervention groups. The intervention featured psychoeducation, development of personal and cultural resources, and emotion regulation strategies. Intervention groups were supported by translators. Symptoms of trauma-related disorders (posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety) were measured before (T1) and after (T2) intervention on validated and reliable screening instruments (Process of Recognition and Orientation of Torture victims in European Countries - PROTECT; Refugee Health Screener - RHS-15) as well as on several single-item questions including general well-being. Furthermore, interviews collected qualitative data from participants, group instructors, translators, and caretakers. Data from the interviews supported the overall success of the intervention in improving several fields of psychological functioning. Furthermore, the intervention group reported that their general well-being had increased across the intervention period on a postintervention period questionnaire. No such improvement was reported in the control group. PROTECT and RHS-15 data revealed a relatively high intensity of trauma-related symptoms in the whole sample. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant decreases in the PROTECT and RHS-15 measures, neither in the intervention nor the control group. This null result might be due to low statistical power, the nonindicative selection procedure, the group format, or the relatively short intervention duration. It is also plausible that an improvement of these symptoms requires a more trauma-focused intervention and/or an individual setting. Thus, the preventive resilience training described here can be seen as a stabilization program in that it seems to improve general functioning and well-being. As such it might also help in building a bridge toward more selective and intense, trauma-focused interventions. Study limitations include the small group sizes, the lack of a follow-up investigation (due to cross-over design), the restriction to only male participants, and the reliance on self-report data that may be subjective to social desirability effects. © 2019 Hogrefe Verlag.

Post-traumatic stress disorder short-term intervention psychoeducation unaccompanied refugee minors Cognitive-behavior therapy

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