Families identified as having medium to high protection risk, and an adolescent aged 12-17 years who scores above the clinical cut-off on a measure of psychological symptoms Not Applicable
Conditions
Interventions
Randomisation will occur after T0 assessments are completed, and will be stratified by implementing partner/site. Participants will be randomly allocated to intervention or waitlist with a 1:1 ratio.
emotional regulation
communication
problem management
managing disagreements
positive parenting for adolescents.
2. Waitlist: The waitlist families will receive the programme after post-intervention assessments (T1). They will receive the programme in a group format, and with
Sponsors
American University of Beirut
War Child
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. A single- or dual-headed household with an adolescent aged 12-17 years (male and female) 2. Identified as at-risk by the partner organisation 3. Scoring above the cutoff on the Paediatric Symptom Scale for general psychological distress 4. Gives assent and parental/legal guardian consent One target child will be identified per family for the assessments (if multiple children meet the criteria in one family, the child who has the highest PSC score will be selected as the index child). At-risk status will be established as part of usual screening processes for focused PSS and clinical assessment by facilitators in partner organizations, who will identify and refer potential participants. Medium-to-high risk is defined for this study as being ‘vulnerable to a protection risk but not high with imminent risk (i.e. without a current protection risk that would require immediate referral to case management).
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Participants will be excluded if they require immediate case management at the time of recruitment, or if they have severe psychiatric disturbance or risks requiring specialist mental health services (assessed by partner organisations as part of usual routine assessment and referral systems) 2. Unaccompanied and separated minors, and children who are married, will not be included in the study, due to challenges with the legal consent of guardians 3. Families engaged in case management or in immediate need of case management at the time of outreach, will not be included. This is because those in case management are likely to be receiving sufficient other services. If the need for case management arises during the program then families can be referred as usual and still receive the program
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Child-reported mental health and behavioural symptoms measured with the 35-item Pediatric Symptom Checklist at T0, T1, T2 (the primary comparison is change from T0 to T1 between groups) | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Child-reported wellbeing measured with the 5-item WHO-5 Wellbeing Index at T0, T1, T2 (the primary comparison is the change from T0 to T1 between groups) 2. Child-reported emotional regulation challenges measured with the 18-item Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale -Short Form at T0, T1, T2 (the primary comparison is the change from T0 to T1 between groups) 3. Child-reported family functioning measured with the 15-item Systemic Clinical Outcome and Routine Evaluation (SCORE) Index of Family Function at T0, T1, T2 (the primary comparison is the change from T0 to T1 between groups) 4. Caregiver-reported parenting skills measured with the War Child Parenting Scale at T0, T1, T2 (the primary comparison is the change from T0 to T1 between groups) 5. Caregiver-reported psychological distress measured with the Kessler 6 scale at T0, T1, T2 (the primary comparison is the change from T0 to T1 between groups) 6. Caregiver-reported emotional regulation challenges measured with the 18-item Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale -Short Form at T0, T1, T2 (the primary comparison is the change from T0 to T1 between groups) 7. Caregiver-reported family functioning measured with the 15-item Systemic Clinical Outcome and Routine Evaluation (SCORE) Index of Family Function at T0, T1, T2 (the primary comparison is the change from T0 to T1 between groups) Mediators: The potential mediating effect of secondary outcomes on the primary outcome will be explored Moderators: The study is not powered for moderation effects, however, the researchers will conduct exploratory analyses of moderating effects of key demographic variables (e.g. age, gender), and exposure to potentially traumatic events and current adversities (using a checklist developed for this study). | — |
Countries
Lebanon
Contacts
Public ContactFelicity Brown
Outcome results
None listed