O’Callaghan 2014.
| Study characteristics | |
| Methods |
Study design: RCT Duration of study: the study was conducted in 2012. Country: Democratic Republic of Congo Income classification: low‐income country in 2012 Geographical scope: rural—Li‐May and Kiliwa, two small villages in Dungu territory, in Haut Uele Province, with an estimated combined population of less than 1000 inhabitants Healthcare setting: local churches |
| Participants | 1. Age: 7‐18 years old 2. Gender: both 3. Socioeconomic background: not specified 4. Educational background: not specified Inclusion criteria Children ages 7 to 18 and their caregivers: a. living in a war‐affected community; b. facing current risks of attack/abduction by armed groups. “…it was not designed as a mental health intervention to treat specific psychiatric conditions and so no symptom cut‐off points were used for eligibility”. Exclusion criteria none reported Note: at baseline, the intervention and control group scores for the 8‐item Impact of Events Scale (CRIES‐8) were, respectively, 11.80 (5.56) and 11.89 (5.28). Stated purpose: to develop and evaluate a community‐participative psychosocial intervention involving life skills and relaxation training and mobile cinema screenings with this war‐affected population living under current threat |
| Interventions |
Name: family‐focused psychosocial intervention Title/name of PW and number: local lay facilitators (6: 3 males, 3 females) 1. Selection: not specified 2. Educational background: not specified 3. Training: facilitators were given a copy of the manualized intervention in French and met for 3 hours with the lead researcher the day before delivering each module. 4. Supervision: facilitators met for 3 hours with the lead researcher the day before delivering each module in order to review the previous module taught, and prepare for the subsequent intervention session. A translator was hired so that the lead researcher could monitor the teaching components of the intervention, provide on‐site clinical supervision during sessions and ensure that each section in each module of the manual was covered in the intervention. 5. Incentives/remuneration: not specified Prevention type: selective—participants were included based upon the presence of a risk factor (living in war‐affected area) and presented with some level of distress as indicated by the CRIES‐8 scores that were below the cut‐off for the measure. Intervention details: a psychosocial intervention based on 3 components: (1) “ChuoChaMaisha”, a youth life skills leadership programme developed and piloted in Tanzania; (2) Mobile Cinema clips—narrative, fictional films, produced and created in the local language to address stigma and discrimination and model how young people, parents and the village community could welcome formerly abducted children back into their communities; and (3) relaxation technique scripts used in trauma‐focused CBT. Control: waiting list |
| Outcomes |
Participants’outcomes of interest for this review
Carers’ outcomes of interest for this review Nil Economic outcomes Nil Time points: baseline, post‐intervention (< 1 month) |
| Notes |
Source of funding: “This project was funding by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous and who financed the costs of the intervention through the NGO, Discover the Journey. The funding organization had no role in the design and conduct of the study; the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.” Notes on validation of instruments (screening and outcomes): all adopted measures were previously validated for use in DR Congo. Additional information: not applicable Handling the data: not applicable Prospective trial registration number: NCT01542398 |