title: Improving Mental Health Outcomes of Burmese Migrant and Displaced Children in Thailand: a Community-Based Randomized Controlled Trial of a Parenting and Family Skills Intervention.
abstract: The negative effects of displacement and poverty on child mental health are well-known, yet research on prevention interventions in low- and middle-income countries, especially fragile states, remains limited. We examined the effectiveness of a parenting skills intervention on mental health outcomes among Burmese migrant and displaced children living in 20 communities in Thailand. Participants were primary caregivers and children aged 7 to 15 years (n = 479 families). Families were randomly assigned to receive an adapted version of the Strengthening Families Program (n = 240) or a wait-list control condition (n = 239). Assessments were conducted at baseline and 1-month post-intervention for both conditions and at 6 months for treatment group only. One month after the program, children in the treatment condition showed significant reductions in externalizing problems (caregiver effect size (ES) -0.22, p = 0.02; child report ES -0.11, p = 0.02) and child attention problems compared with controls (caregiver report ES -0.23, p = 0.03). There was no significant treatment effect on children's internalizing problems (ES -0.06; p = 0.31). Children reported a significant increase in prosocial protective factors relative to controls (ES 0.20, p < 0.01). Results suggest that an evidence-based parenting skills intervention adapted for a displaced and migrant Burmese population facing high levels of adversity can have positive effects on children's externalizing symptoms and protective psychosocial factors.
  
  
  
  Clinicaltrials.gov: https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01829815.
authors.affiliation: Research, Evaluation and Learning Unit, International Rescue Committee, New York, NY, USA. jeannie.annan@gmail.com.|The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, 1155 E 60th St, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA. jeannie.annan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jeannie
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6098-5134
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Annan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Eve S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Puffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Carmel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salhi
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Theresa S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Betancourt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D002052:Myanmar; D016487:Parenting; D013785:Thailand; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Displacement; Low and middle income countries; Mental health; Migrants; Myanmar; Parenting