Reintegrating Children Living at Landfills in Burundi Into Society by Means of a Comprehensive Family Program Addressing Maltreatment and Mental Health Symptoms

NCT03846154 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: UKCR18
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 96
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Children living at the landfills of Bujumbura are often exposed to maltreatment, including emotional neglect and physical abuse, and traumatic experiences. Furthermore, they grow up in severe poverty. Addressing trauma-related mental health issues and aggressive behaviour by Narrative Exposure Therapy (FORNET), familial communication by family visits, interaction difficulties of children by a group intervention, poverty by financial support and economic training for mothers, medical problems by medical assistance, legal conflicts by legal advice, and providing access to school, we aimed at reintegrating those children within the Burundian school system and improving familial relationships. The investigators want to provide evidence, that mental health interventions are an integral part of assisting children and families affected by poverty and violence.

Conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Aggressive Behaviour; Parental Maltreatment; Days Spent at the Landfill

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Change of load of traumatic symptoms measured via the University of California at Los Angeles Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (scale administered by Clinicians)

  27 items assessing PTSD, 4 additional items assessing dissociation on a scale from 0 - 4. Due to scoring rules, total sum score ranges from 0 to 80; sub scale intrusion: 0 - 20; sub scale avoidance: 0 - 8; sub scale negative cognitions: 0 - 28; sub scale hyperarousal: 0 - 24; higher values indicate more severe PTSD symptoms; all items are summed up for the total score

  baseline; 5 months follow-up; 9 months follow-up

• Change of number of aggressive acts measured via an adaption of the Domestic and Community Violence Checklist

  32 items; answer categories: yes or no; sum score ranges from 0 - 32

  baseline; 5 months follow-up; 9 months follow-up

• Change of experienced parental maltreatment measured via a shortened version of the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE)

  total sum score ranges from 0 - 100; sum score of each sub scale ranges from 0 - 10

  baseline; 5 months follow-up; 9 months follow-up

• Change of number of days spent at the landfill

  during the last 14 days; sum ranges from 0 - 14

  baseline; 5 months follow-up; 9 months follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

Children and adolescents in the intervention group received: 1. A group intervention once a week for about 20 weeks, including psychoeducation on mental health and drug abuse, anger management, roles within families, developing plans for the future, communication skills, sex education. 2. Access to schools and school material 3. Family visits 4. Their parents received training regarding agriculture and microcredit projects, and financial assistance 5. FORNET if affected by trauma-related symptoms, and/or acting aggressive 6. If needed medical assistance is provided 7. If needed legal assistance is provided

Behavioral: Comprehensive family intervention including individual sessions of FORNET

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

The control group was invited to participate in three interviews getting small amounts of money (\~2,5 €) as decompensation of their time.

Interventions

Comprehensive family intervention including individual sessions of FORNET BEHAVIORAL

1. A group intervention once a week for about 20 weeks, including psychoeducation on mental health and drug abuse, anger management, roles within families, developing plans for the future, communication skills, sex education. 2. Access to schools and school material 3. Family visits 4. Their parents received training regarding agriculture and microcredit projects, and financial assistance 5. FORNET if affected by trauma-related symptoms, and/or acting aggressive 6. If needed medical assistance /.) If needed, legal assistance

Intervention group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 18 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Spending days at the landfills of Bujumbura

You may not qualify if:

• Psychotic symptoms

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Konstanz: lead
• Vivo international e.V.: collaborator
• Psychologues sans Frontières Burundi: collaborator
• Université Lumière de Bujumbura: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

vivo international & Psychologues sans Frontières mental health center

Bujumbura, Bujumbura Mairie Province, Burundi

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Aggression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

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

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 15, 2019
• First Posted: February 19, 2019
• Study Start: March 1, 2018
• Primary Completion: March 30, 2019
• Study Completion: March 30, 2019
• Last Updated: April 25, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

BU (1)