Psychosocial Counseling in Afghanistan

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01155687

Enrollment

Registered

2010-07-02

Start date

2009-09-30

Completion date

2010-07-31

Last updated

2011-08-09

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Mental Health, Stress

Keywords

afghanistan, depression, anxiety, social stress, counseling, medication, psychotherapy, mental health

Brief summary

The assessment intends to investigate the efficacy of psychosocial counseling for the treatment of help seeking individuals with psychosocial problems in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Treatment was administered by local counselors who had received specific education and training

Detailed description

Psychosocial stress due to conflict and war causes major mental health problems in many resource-poor countries, especially those coping with ongoing war-like conditions. There is a lack of intervention research in these population. The purpose of this assessment was to examine whether the type of psychosocial counseling developed by our group is effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety and significantly increasing the quality of life of help-seeking Afghans.

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

CASE_CONTROL

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

14 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Diagnosis of mental health problems by a local medical doctor

Exclusion criteria

* Schizophrenia * Mental retardation

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
HSCL 25	Symptoms were assessed at baseline	Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety measured with the HSCL 25

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
M.I.N.I. (Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview)	Symptoms were assessed at baseline	To assess, if the patients have a current Major Depression, the depression section from the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (Sheehan, & Janavs, 1998) was included
Psychosocial stressors and coping mechanism	Symptoms were assessed at baseline	Psychosocial stressors and coping mechanism of the participants were investigated in expert interviews
Screening for Depression	Symptoms were assessed at baseline	A culturally grounded assessment measure developed in close collaboration with a team of Afghan experts explored current depressive symptoms
M.I.N.I (Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview)	Assessment at 12-month-follow-up	To assess, if the patients have a current Major Depression, the depression section from the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (Sheehan, & Janavs, 1998) was included

Countries

Afghanistan

Outcome results