Trial reportBMC medicine2014
School-based mental health intervention for children in war-affected Burundi: a cluster randomized trial.
Trial report in BMC medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 15 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review of psychosocial interventions for children affected by armed conflict: mapping what works, for whom, and under what conditions.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Treatment of children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress in humanitarian crises: systematic review and meta-analysis.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2025Pooled it
- Practice Elements Used in Child Mass Trauma Interventions: A Systematic Review.Current psychiatry reports · 2025Pooled it
- Psychological and social interventions for the promotion of mental health in people living in low- and middle-income countries affected by humanitarian crises.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Primary-level and community worker interventions for the prevention of mental disorders and the promotion of well-being in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of school-based interventions for mental health problems in children and adolescents in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Mental health interventions by lay counsellors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2021Pooled it
- The modules of mental health programs implemented in schools in low- and middle-income countries: findings from a systematic literature review.BMC public health · 2020Pooled it
- Psychological and social interventions for the prevention of mental disorders in people living in low- and middle-income countries affected by humanitarian crises.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Delivering mental health and psychosocial support interventions to women and children in conflict settings: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2020Pooled it
- Psychological and Psychosocial Interventions for PTSD, Depression and Anxiety Among Children and Adolescents in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Psychological therapies for the treatment of mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries affected by humanitarian crises.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Address Mental Health Disparities for Underserved Populations: A Systematic Review.Administration and policy in mental health · 2018Pooled it
- Psychological therapies for children and adolescents exposed to trauma.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Interventions for Children Affected by Armed Conflict: a Systematic Review of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Current psychiatry reports · 2016Pooled it
- Creative arts in psychotherapy for traumatized children in South Africa: An evaluation study.PloS one · 2019Trial
- Effectiveness of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Among Trauma-Affected Children in Lusaka, Zambia: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA pediatrics · 2015Trial
- Community-Delivered, Task-Shifted Trauma-Focused Intervention for Youth in Northwest Nigeria: Mental Health and Functional Outcomes of a Mixed-Methods Study.Rwanda journal of medicine and health sciences · 2026Article
- A scoping review of outcomes and implementation challenges of mental health care interventions among conflict-affected populations in Africa.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Mental health and psychosocial support interventions for populations affected by ongoing armed conflict: a scoping review.BMJ global health · 2026Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundArmed conflicts are associated with a wide range of impacts on the mental health of children and adolescents. We evaluated the effectiveness of a school-based intervention aimed at reducing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety (treatment aim); and improving a sense of hope and functioning (preventive aim).
methodsWe conducted a cluster randomized trial with 329 children in war-affected Burundi (aged 8 to 17 (mean 12.29 years, standard deviation 1.61); 48% girls). One group of children (n = 153) participated in a 15-session school-based intervention implemented by para-professionals, and the remaining 176 children formed a waitlist control condition. Outcomes were measured before, one week after, and three months after the intervention.
resultsNo main effects of the intervention were identified. However, longitudinal growth curve analyses showed six favorable and two unfavorable differences in trajectories between study conditions in interaction with several moderators. Children in the intervention condition living in larger households showed decreases on depressive symptoms and function impairment, and those living with both parents showed decreases on posttraumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms. The groups of children in the waitlist condition showed increases in depressive symptoms. In addition, younger children and those with low levels of exposure to traumatic events in the intervention condition showed improvements on hope. Children in the waitlist condition who lived on their original or newly bought land showed improvements in hope and function impairment, whereas children in the intervention condition showed deterioration on these outcomes.
conclusionsGiven inconsistent effects across studies, findings do not support this school-based intervention as a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms in conflict-affected children. The intervention appears to have more consistent preventive benefits, but these effects are contingent upon individual (for example, age, gender) and contextual (for example, family functioning, state of conflict, displacement) variables. Results suggest the potential benefit of school-based preventive interventions particularly in post-conflict settings.
trial registrationThe study was registered as ISRCTN42284825.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.