The Institute for Global Health and Development
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/9
Browse
6 results
Search Results
Item Resilience and adjustment trajectories amongst children in displacement-affected communities in Zarqa, Jordan(International Society of Global Health, 2021-01-05) Hermosilla, Sabrina; Metzler, Janna; Savage, Kevin; Ager, AlastairBackground: The experiences of protracted conflict and displacement are clear threats to children’s developmental progress. Understanding the factors that shape the trajectories of children’s well-being and adjustment in such contexts is important for informing interventions.Item The Child PTSD Symptom Scale: Psychometric properties among earthquake survivors(2020-11-27) Hermosilla, Sabrina; Forthal, Sarah; Van Husen, Madeline; Metzler, Janna; Ghimire, Dirgha; Ager, AlastairEvidence for a single underlying factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children remains elusive. We assessed the underlying factor structure of the Child PTSD Symptom Scale through exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) in 570 survivors of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal. The EFA suggests that the three-factor DSM-IV model fit these data best. The CFA suggests that while the DSM-IV model adequately fit these data, the four-factor King model fit them better. There was no evidence of differential item functioning by age or gender, and internal consistency of the scale was high. PTSD (overall or by factor) was not correlated with functional impairment. Inconsistent psychometric results across contexts and methodologies suggest that our current theoretical conceptualizations and empirical models of posttraumatic stress are lacking. Future studies must both document the instrument properties to assure internal validity and cross-study comparisons and, bolstered by increased psychometric data and analyses, rework theoretical models of PTSD with improved cross-cultural validity.Item Short‐ and longer‐term impacts of Child Friendly Space Interventions in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Uganda(Wiley, 2019-05-20) Metzler, Janna; Diaconu, Karin; Hermosilla, Sabrina; Kaijuka, Robert; Ebulu, George; Savage, Kevin; Ager, AlastairBackground The establishment of Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) has become a widespread intervention targeting protection and support for displaced children in humanitarian contexts. There is a lack of evidence of impact of these interventions with respect to both short‐term outcomes and longer‐term developmental trajectories.Item Child friendly spaces impact across five humanitarian settings: A meta-analysis(BMC, 2019-05-15) Hermosilla, Sabrina; Metzler, Janna; Savage, Kevin; Musa, Miriam; Ager, AlastairBackground: Humanitarian crises present major threats to the wellbeing of children. These threats include risks of violence, abduction and abuse, emotional distress and the disruption of development. Humanitarian response efforts frequently address these threats through psychosocial programming. Systematic reviews have demonstrated the weak evidence-base regarding the impact of such interventions. This analysis assesses the impact of Child Friendly Spaces (CFS), one such commonly implemented intervention after humanitarian emergencies.Item Educational, psychosocial and protection outcomes of child- and youth-focused programming with Somali refugees in Buramino camp, Dollo Ado, Ethiopia(Overseas Development Institute, 2020-04-09) Metzler, Janna; Jonfa, Mesfin; Savage, Kevin; Ager, Alastair; Aktion Deutschland HilftProvision of child- and youth-friendly spaces has become a common feature of emergency humanitarian response. The evidence-base regarding such provision is, however, severely limited. This study reports outcomes of Child and Youth Learning Centres (CYLCs) established in Buramino refugee camp for those fleeing conflict in Somalia. Eighty-five youths completed baseline assessments shortly after arrival at the camp and follow-up assessments between three and six months later. Caregivers of 106 younger children completed similar assessments. Attendances at CYLCs between baseline and follow-up were collated. Baseline and follow-up literacy and numeracy assessments were completed by 693 children attending CYLCs. Those attending CYLCs made major gains in both literacy and numeracy (t=9.06 and t=13.94 for younger children and t=13.87 and t=17.10 for youth respectively, all p<.0001). Children’s CYLC attendance also enhanced perceptions of met needs (t=2.53 amongst caregivers and t=2.57 amongst youth, both p<.05) and, amongst caregivers but not youth, significantly moderated protection concerns amidst increasingly challenging camp conditions (t=2.39, p<0.05, and t=-1.90, p=0.06 respectively). There was general improvement in psychosocial well-being over time for all children; CYLC attendance predicted greater reductions in reported difficulties only amongst younger children (t=2.51, p<.05).Item Where there is no intervention: Insights into processes of resilience supporting war-affected children.(American Psychological Association, 2017-02-01) Ager, Alastair; Metzler, JannaThe last decade has been marked by increasing attention to rigor in the evaluation of interventions that seek to promote the mental health and psychosocial well-being of children in crisis contexts. One of the key markers of such rigor has been the increased adoption of strong quasi-experimental designs, where children receiving an intervention are compared to children not receiving the intervention. Although usually not randomly assigned to such conditions, children in the 'intervention' and 'comparison' groups are generally assumed to have had similar experiences other than in relation to exposure to the intervention. The use of such designs-when planned and implemented on a sound ethical basis-can significantly strengthen the capacity to make appropriate attribution of any changes observed by exploring the counterfactual case: what happens when there is no intervention? This question is usually supplementary to questions about the outcomes observed in children receiving the services being evaluated and crucial to inference regarding such outcomes. However, this paper argues that data from comparison groups has major value in its own right. Indeed, it represents a major untapped source of reflection on processes of resilience in humanitarian contexts. We use as a foundation for our analysis 3 studies completed over the last decade which examined the impact of protective and psychosocial interventions for war-affected children in Sierra Leone and Uganda. The interventions considered include programs fostering reintegration of formerly abducted children, prompting structured activities in schools, and establishing child-friendly spaces in refugee settlements. In each case, however, our focus is not on the group that received greatest attention in the original reports-the children receiving the intervention-but on those that did not. Analysis indicates the powerful forces which promote recovery in situations of conflict and the need for interventions to be more mindful that their core function is to bolster such engagement and not seek to drive recovery.