Implementation and feasibility trials of child mental health interventions in refugee camp settings on the Thailand-Burma and Ethiopia-Somalia borders
This project focused on adapting and evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of a mental health intervention for both child survivors of sexual violence and children with mental health symptoms related to other forms of child protection concerns. The intervention was implemented by the International Rescue Committee in Somali refugee camps in Ethiopia and Burmese refugee camps in Thailand. As part of this project, mixed-methods studies were conducted to examine stressors in these environments and their impact on children and to explore the validity of measures of child mental health in these settings.
The study was led by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Applied Mental Health Research Group at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health (PI: Laura K. Murray) and was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Status: Completed
Relevant Publications:
Murray, L. K., Hall, B., Dorsey, S., Ugeuto, A., Puffer, E. S., Sim, A., Ismael, A., Bass, J., Akiba, C., Lucid, L., Harrison, J., Erikson, A., & Bolton, P. A. (under review). An open trial of a common elements approach for youth in Somali refugee camps.
Hall, B. J., Puffer, E. S., Murray, L. K., Ismael, A., Bass, J. K., Sim, A., & Bolton, P. A. (2014). The importance of establishing reliability and validity of assessment instruments for mental health problems: An example from Somali children and adolescents living in three refugee camps in Ethiopia. Psychological Injury and Law, 7, 153-164.
Meyer, S., Murray, L., Puffer, E. S., Larsen, J., & Bolton, P. (2013). The nature and impact of chronic stressors on refugee children in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp, Thailand. Global Public Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, 8, 1027-1047