Narrative Exposure Therapy as a treatment for child war survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder: two case reports and a pilot study in an African refugee settlement.
BACKGROUND
Little data exists on the effectiveness of psychological interventions for children with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that has resulted from exposure to war or conflict-related violence, especially in non-industrialized countries. We created and evaluated the efficacy of KIDNET, a child-friendly version of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), as a short-term treatment for children.


METHODS
Six Somali children suffering from PTSD aged 12-17 years resident in a refugee settlement in Uganda were treated with four to six individual sessions of KIDNET by expert clinicians. Symptoms of PTSD and depression were assessed pre-treatment, post-treatment and at nine months follow-up using the CIDI Sections K and E.


RESULTS
Important symptom reduction was evident immediately after treatment and treatment outcomes were sustained at the 9-month follow-up. All patients completed therapy, reported functioning gains and could be helped to reconstruct their traumatic experiences into a narrative with the use of illustrative material.


CONCLUSIONS
NET may be safe and effective to treat children with war related PTSD in the setting of refugee settlements in developing countries.
Onyut
Lamaro P
LP
vivo Uganda, Mbarara, Uganda. patience@vivo.org
Neuner
Frank
F
Schauer
Elisabeth
E
Ertl
Verena
V
Odenwald
Michael
M
Schauer
Maggie
M
Elbert
Thomas
T
D000293:Adolescent; D001348:Aversive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003906:Developing Countries; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006801:Humans; D033262:Narration; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D012998:Somalia / Q000208:ethnology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014454:Uganda; D014857:Warfare