Citation

Strauven S, Dennison MJ, O'donnell ML, Cowlishaw S, Gibson K, Pedder DJ, Baur J, Nursey J, Cobham VE. Br. J. Clin. Psychol. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, British Psychological Society)

DOI

10.1111/bjc.12484

PMID

38868927

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.

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.

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.

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.

Language: en

Keywords

children; adolescents; trauma; disaster; psychosocial intervention; post‐traumatic stress; scalable intervention; sub‐clinical