Evaluation of an innovative intervention for traumatized children from a low resourced country

Farah Deeba, Ronald M. Rapeen Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia Received 14 August 2014; received in revised form 14 April 2015; accepted 11 May 2015 Available online 27 May 2015

Abstract

Asking children to care for a toy animal following a severe trauma has previously shown mental health benefits. In this study 129 children aged 5–9 from two shelter-homes in Bangladesh were randomly allocated to receive a toy animal plus rehearsal of positive statements or treatment as usual and were re-assessed after three weeks. Those receiving tau then received the toy only and were reassessed after another three weeks. The largest reductions in symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression were shown by those receiving the combined intervention. This procedure provides a potential very low-cost intervention for use in developing countries. & 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.