Examining MEmory Training for Recovery-Adolescent among Afghan adolescent boys: a pilot randomised controlled trial.
Source: PubMed, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine
To conduct a pilot randomised controlled trial examining the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of MEmory Training for Recovery-Adolescent (METRA) in improving psychological symptoms among Afghan adolescent boys following a terrorist attack.A pilot randomised controlled trial compared METRA to a Control Group, with a three-month follow-up. The study occurred in Kabul (June-November 2022). Fifty-eight boys aged 14-19 years (16.70,= 1.26) with heightened posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were recruited through a local school that had recently experienced a terrorist attack. Participants were randomised 1:1 to receive METRA (= 28) (10 session group-intervention) or Control (= 30) (10 group-sessions of study skills). Primary outcomes were self-reported PTSD symptoms at post-intervention. Secondary outcomes included self-reported anxiety, depression, Afghan-cultural distress symptoms and psychiatric difficulties.There were challenges in youth participation related to security and competing education demands. For those who did complete METRA, METRA was deemed feasible and acceptable. Following the intent-to-treat principle, linear mixed effects models found at posttreatment the METRA group had a 20.89-point (95%CI -30.66, -11.11) decrease in PTSD symptoms, while the Control Group had a 1.42-point (95%CI -8.11, 5.27) decrease, with the group over time interaction being significant (< .001). METRA participants had significantly greater red
Abstract
To conduct a pilot randomised controlled trial examining the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of MEmory Training for Recovery-Adolescent (METRA) in improving psychological symptoms among Afghan adolescent boys following a terrorist attack.A pilot randomised controlled trial compared METRA to a Control Group, with a three-month follow-up. The study occurred in Kabul (June-November 2022). Fifty-eight boys aged 14-19 years (16.70,= 1.26) with heightened posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were recruited through a local school that had recently experienced a terrorist attack. Participants were randomised 1:1 to receive METRA (= 28) (10 session group-intervention) or Control (= 30) (10 group-sessions of study skills). Primary outcomes were self-reported PTSD symptoms at post-intervention. Secondary outcomes included self-reported anxiety, depression, Afghan-cultural distress symptoms and psychiatric difficulties.There were challenges in youth participation related to security and competing education demands. For those who did complete METRA, METRA was deemed feasible and acceptable. Following the intent-to-treat principle, linear mixed effects models found at posttreatment the METRA group had a 20.89-point (95%CI -30.66, -11.11) decrease in PTSD symptoms, while the Control Group had a 1.42-point (95%CI -8.11, 5.27) decrease, with the group over time interaction being significant (< .001). METRA participants had significantly greater reductions in depression, anxiety, Afghan-cultural distress symptoms and psychiatric difficulties than did Controls. All gains were maintained at three-month follow-up.With some modifications, METRA appears a feasible intervention for adolescent boys in humanitarian contexts in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.