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Psychological interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in refugees: A meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
Author(s) -
Kip Ahlke,
Priebe Stefan,
Holling Heinz,
Moriexhmedin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.2446
Subject(s) - psychological intervention , psycinfo , meta analysis , refugee , randomized controlled trial , depression (economics) , psychiatry , psychology , clinical psychology , intervention (counseling) , medicine , medline , economics , history , macroeconomics , archaeology , political science , law
Millions of refugees around the globe suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depression. We conducted a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to determine the efficacy of psychological interventions for PTSD and/or depression in refugees. The meta‐analysis was registered on the PROSPERO database (CRD42017071384). A search using the Medline, PsycINFO, and PILOTS databases was conducted in January 2019, resulting in 17 RCTs, of which 14 were conducted with adult refugees (1,108 participants) and 3 with young refugees (<18 years; 151 participants). Further inclusion criteria were at least 10 participants completing an active psychological intervention for PTSD, depression, or both and less than 50% of participants receiving concurrent psychotropic drugs. Random effects models showed that active interventions for adult PTSD yielded a medium to large aggregated effect size ( g = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.26, 1.28]) at posttreatment when compared with passive and active control conditions. Active interventions for adult depression also produced large controlled effect sizes at posttreatment ( g = 0.82; 95% CI [0.24, 1.40]). The effects appeared to persist over the average follow‐up period of 6 months. The findings suggest that psychological interventions can effectively reduce symptoms of both PTSD and depression in adult refugees. However, the considerable heterogeneity between studies indicates that the efficacy may vary significantly. Future studies should aim to explore the substantial heterogeneity in effect sizes between studies with adult refugees. Additionally, more trials with young refugees suffering from PTSD or depression are needed to determine treatment efficacy for this population.