Clinical trial NCT03912077: Implementing Psychosocial Interventions to Syrian Refugee Women Who Are Exposed to Psychological Trauma
Official title: War and Immigration: Implementing Psychosocial Interventions to Syrian Refugee Women Who Are Exposed to Psychological Trauma
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Psychological Distress
Psychological Trauma
Keywords: Refugees
Psychological distress
Psychological trauma
Anxiety
CA-CBT
Depression
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Intervention
Turkey
Migration
Lead sponsor: Istanbul Sehir University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2019-04-11
Enrollment: 23
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: It is a randomized, parallel-group trial that enroll Syrian refugee women with psychological distress, according to the Hopkins Symptom Checklist - 25 (HSCL-25) who will be randomly assigned to the Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CA-CBT) intervention or to treatment as usual (TAU).
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study assesses severity of trauma, depression and anxiety symptoms of Syrian women under temporary protection who reside in Istanbul and types of exposed trauma that they have experienced. This study also evaluates the effectiveness of the Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CA-CBT) in Syrian women under temporary protection who are with psychological distress in Turkey. Half of participants will receive Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CA-CBT), while the other half will receive treatment as usual.

Detailed description: Background: Due to the ongoing conflict in Syria, Syrian people have faced with various atrocities. Many of them were displaced from their home, causing them to experience difficulties during and after the immigration. Being exposed to such stressors makes refugees susceptible to psychological distress and put them at risk to develop psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, depression and so on (Alpak et al., 2015).

Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CA-CBT) is an evidence-based psychological intervention manual developed by Devon Hinton, MD from Harvard University and Baland Jalal from University of Cambridge. It is a group therapy protocol that consists of 7 sessions. CA-CBT is a brief intervention that adopts a transdiagnostical approach and can be delivered by trained facilitators to people who are psychologically distressed. Several RCTs has been conducted to evaluate effectiveness of CA-CBT and demonstrated positive results. (Hinton et al., 2012).

Objectives: This study has two aims. First aim of the study is to assess severity of trauma, depression and anxiety symptoms and types of exposed trauma of Syrian refugee women who reside in Istanbul. Second aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Syrian refugee women with psychological distress resettled in Turkey, as compared with treatment as usual (TAU). The primary outcome is the decrease in psychological distress symptoms. Secondary outcomes are depression, anxiety and psychological trauma symptoms along with post-migration living difficulties and related distress symptoms.

Design: This is a parallel-group randomized controlled trial, therefore participants will have an equal probability (1:1) of being randomly allocated to the CA-CBT intervention or the TAU.

Methodology: Screening will be conducted before randomization. Syrian refugee women who score 1.75 or above (≥ 1.75) at the Hopkins Symptom Checklist - 25 (HSCL-25) will enter the study. After randomization they will receive the 7- session CA-CBT or the TAU. The CA-CBT intervention phase will last 7 weeks (1 session per week). After intervention, post-assessments will be performed.

Expected outcomes: The expected outcome is decrease in the depression, anxiety and psychological trauma symptoms and general improvement in distress symptoms caused by post-migration living difficulties, in refugees in the CA-CBT intervention arm, as compared to TAU.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Being 18 years old and older
* Being a Syrian woman under temporary protection who resides in Istanbul
* Being able to speak and understand Arabic
* Having psychological distress symptoms, as shown by a score of 1.75 or more at the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 (HSCL-25 ≥ 1.75 )

Exclusion Criteria:

* Imminent risk of suicide
* Severe mental disorder (psychotic disorders, substance dependence)
* Severe cognitive impairment (severe intellectual disability or dementia)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Psychological distress symptoms
timeFrame: 1-week post-intervention
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Psychological trauma symptoms
timeFrame: 1-week post-intervention
measure: Depression symptoms
timeFrame: 1-week post-intervention
measure: Distress symptoms related with post-migration events
timeFrame: 1-week post-intervention; 6-month and 12-month follow-ups
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Istanbul
country: Turkey
facility: Refugees and Asylum Seekers Assistance and Solidarity Association
Study officials:
References:
citation: Alpak G, Unal A, Bulbul F, Sagaltici E, Bez Y, Altindag A, Dalkilic A, Savas HA. Post-traumatic stress disorder among Syrian refugees in Turkey: a cross-sectional study. Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract. 2015 Mar;19(1):45-50. doi: 10.3109/13651501.2014.961930. Epub 2014 Oct 6.
citation: Hinton DE, Rivera EI, Hofmann SG, Barlow DH, Otto MW. Adapting CBT for traumatized refugees and ethnic minority patients: examples from culturally adapted CBT (CA-CBT). Transcult Psychiatry. 2012 Apr;49(2):340-65. doi: 10.1177/1363461512441595.
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citation: Shoeb M, Weinstein H, Mollica R. The Harvard trauma questionnaire: adapting a cross-cultural instrument for measuring torture, trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in Iraqi refugees. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2007 Sep;53(5):447-63. doi: 10.1177/0020764007078362.
citation: Mollica, R. F., McDonald, L. S., Massagli, M. P., & Silove, D. Measuring trauma, measuring torture: instructions and guidance on the utilization of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma's Versions of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) & The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ). Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma. 2004.
citation: Eskici HS, Hinton DE, Jalal B, Yurtbakan T, Acarturk C. Culturally adapted cognitive behavioral therapy for Syrian refugee women in Turkey: A randomized controlled trial. Psychol Trauma. 2023 Feb;15(2):189-198. doi: 10.1037/tra0001138. Epub 2021 Oct 7.