Decreasing Youth Involvement in Violence in Burundi

NCT02503488 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: UKonstanz
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of the current study is to examine the psychological well-being of youth within the context of participation in political violence during the 2015 election period in Burundi. In detail, the investigators are interested in fostering improved outcomes in a peace-building initiative aimed at youth in Burundi by reducing the mental health-related stress of the initiative's most severely affected participants. In addition, the investigators are interested in learning more about the youth experience of involvement in the Burundian political system in an effort to understand the links between youth engagement in political violence and past experiences of traumatic events.

Conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Depression; Aggression

Keywords

Appetitive Aggression

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in Baseline PTSD Scores at 3-months-followup and 9-months-followup

  Will be assessed using the PSS-I

  Baseline, 3 months, 9 months

• Change in Baseline Depression Scores at 3-months-followup and 9-months-followup

  Will be assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9

  Baseline, 3 months, 9 months

• Change in Baseline Appetitive Aggression Scores at 3-months-followup and 9-months-followup

  Assesses attitudes towards the perception and disposition of different forms of violence using the Appetitive Aggression Scale for Children (AAS-C).

  Baseline, 3 months, 9 months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Change in Baseline Physical State at 3-months-followup and 9-months-followup

  Baseline, 3 months, 9 months

• Change in Social Integration Scores at 3-months-followup and 9-months-followup

  Baseline, 3 months, 9 months

• Change in Scores on the Attitudes Toward Members of Other Political Parties Scale at 3-months-followup and 9-months-followup

  Baseline, 3 months, 9 months

Other Outcomes (1)

• Change in Scores on the Opinion on the Civil War Scale at 3-months-followup and 9-months-followup

  Baseline, 3 months, 9 months

Study Arms (2)

Program Group

EXPERIMENTAL

The treatment arm will consist of 20 randomly selected participants who will receive Narrative Exposure Therapy for Forensic Offender Rehabilitation (FORNET) for their traumatic symptomology, aggression, and depression. FORNET consists of a guided exposure of the participant's traumatic experiences in chronological order and integrating them into a coherent biographical memory.The intervention addresses the participant's positive, negative, and violent memories of events that have taken place during their lifetime, and also provides participants an opportunity to asses their current situation and future plans. FORNET can be completed in six sessions and each session lasts 90 minutes on average.

Behavioral: Narrative Exposure Therapy for Forensic Offender Rehab

Treatment As Usual (TAU)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in the TAU group will receive group and individual psycho-social support from trained peer-support workers, with 10 sessions occurring throughout the course of the intervention for each participant. In addition, there will be sensitisation trainings as well as mentoring for establishing greater financial independence. Last, TAU will include one-day events promoting social cohesion and peace.

Behavioral: Treatment as Usual

Interventions

Narrative Exposure Therapy for Forensic Offender Rehab BEHAVIORAL

See arm description.

Also known as: FORNET

Program Group

Treatment as Usual BEHAVIORAL

See arm description

Also known as: TAU

Treatment As Usual (TAU)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 40 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• High degree of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder according to the Posttraumatic Symptom Scale
• High degree of appetitive aggression
• Violent behavior during the past three months

You may not qualify if:

• Current use of mind altering drugs
• Psychotic symptoms

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Konstanz: lead
• Vivo international e.V.: collaborator
• Action on Armed Violence: collaborator
• Psychologues sans Frontières Burundi: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

vivo international & Psychologues sans Frontières mental health center

Bujumbura, Burundi

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Depression; Aggression

Interventions

Therapeutics

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Mental Disorders; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Aberrant Motor Behavior in Dementia; Social Behavior

Study Officials

• Anselm Crombach

  University of Konstanz, vivo international e.V., Psychologues sans Frontiers Burundi

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Dr. Anselm Crombach, Dipl.-Psych.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2015
• First Posted: July 21, 2015
• Study Start: May 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2016
• Study Completion: August 1, 2016
• Last Updated: November 29, 2017

Record last verified: 2017-11

Locations

BU (1)