Omega (United States)
Volume 65, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 139-150

Efficacy of writing for recovery on traumatic grief symptoms of afghani refugee bereaved adolescents: A randomized control trial (Article)

Kalantari M.* , Yule W. , Dyregrov A. , Neshatdoost H. , Ahmadi S.J.
  • a Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
  • b King's College London, United Kingdom
  • c Center for Crisis Psychology, Bergen, Norway
  • d Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
  • e Center for Crisis Psychology, Bergen, Norway

Abstract

Effective evidence-based intervention for traumatic bereavement is one of the current major research issues in the field of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents. The "Writing for Recovery" group intervention is a new treatment approach developed by the Children and War Foundation for traumatized and bereaved children and adolescents after disasters. The purpose of this project was an empirical examination of this intervention with 12- to 18-year-old war bereaved Afghani refugees. Eighty-eight war bereaved Afghani refugees were screened using the Traumatic Grief Inventory for Children (TGIC). From those with the highest total score, 61 were randomly assigned to either an experimental (n = 29) or control group (n = 32). The experimental group received six sessions of group training on 3 consecutive days in their school. The difference of TGIC scores between the experimental group in pretest and posttest was significant (p = 0.001). Results of analysis of covariance also showed a significant effect of Writing for Recovery on the experimental group (p < 0.001). It is concluded that "Writing for Recovery" is an effective group intervention for bereaved children and adolescents after disasters. © 2012, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

Afghanistan hospitalization refugee controlled clinical trial psychological aspect clinical trial methodology human Life Change Events Refugees life event war Psychotherapy, Group group therapy controlled study randomized controlled trial cognitive therapy child behavior ethnology Iran Humans Treatment Outcome Adolescent male Severity of Illness Index female questionnaire verbal communication Narration Article Adolescent Behavior Questionnaires posttraumatic stress disorder Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84865236159&doi=10.2190%2fOM.65.2.d&partnerID=40&md5=b05caf873399867eb1a37b2387761090
DOI: 10.2190/OM.65.2.d
ISSN: 00302228
Cited by: 23
Original Language: English