@article{ref1,
title="A pilot study of a brief and scalable psychosocial intervention for children and adolescents following disasters",
journal="British journal of clinical psychology",
year="2024",
author="Cobham, Vanessa E. and Nursey, Jane and Cowlishaw, Sean and Gibson, Kari and Baur, Jenelle and Pedder, David J. and O'donnell, Meaghan L. and Dennison, Meg J. and Strauven, Sarah",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: Following disaster exposure, a significant proportion of children/adolescents will develop levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) that do not meet diagnostic threshold for PTSD, but which cause ongoing distress. This paper describes the development and pilot testing of a brief, scalable, psychosocial intervention. SOLAR-Kids/Teens has been designed to be delivered by non-mental health professionals ('coaches') to children/adolescents experiencing moderate levels of PTSS following disasters. <br><br>METHODS: An international collaboration of experts developed The Skills fOr Life Adjustment and Resilience (SOLAR) for Kids and Teens programs. The programs were piloted-using a pre-post mixed methods design-with 10 children and adolescents (8-18 years), with the aims of examining the feasibility of the program's delivery model as well as the program's potential usefulness. <br><br>RESULTS: The pilot data indicated that after 1 day of training and with ongoing supervision, the SOLAR program was safe and feasible for coaches to deliver to children/adolescents experiencing PTSS. Coaches reported increased knowledge (p = .001), confidence (p = .001) and skills (p = .006). The programs were acceptable to coaches, children/adolescents and parents. Parents and children/adolescents reported reductions in trauma and anxiety symptoms from pre- to post-treatment, with moderate to large effect sizes. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The preliminary findings demonstrate that the SOLAR-Kids/Teens program is feasible, acceptable and safe to be delivered by trained non-mental health professionals to children and adolescents experiencing PTSS and anxiety following disaster exposure. Randomized controlled trials are required to evaluate the efficacy of the SOLAR-Kids/Teens programs.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0144-6657",
doi="10.1111/bjc.12484",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12484"
}