Mind-Body Skills Groups for Behavioral and Emotional Problems in War-Traumatized Male Adolescents in Gaza

Mind-Body Skills Groups for Behavioral and Emotional Problems in War-Traumatized Male Adolescents in Gaza

Mind-Body Skills Groups for Behavioral and Emotional Problems in War-Traumatized Male Adolescents in Gaza

The purpose of this study is to determine whether war-traumatize male adolescents with behavioral and emotional problems who participate in mind-body skills groups will have improvement in behavioral and emotional problems, aggression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, compared to a wait list control group.

Mind-body skills incorporate meditation, guided imagery, breathing techniques, autogenic training, biofeedback, genograms, and self-expression through words, drawings, and movement in a small group setting. These groups have been used in war-traumatize populations in Kosovo, Gaza and the United States. This study will be investigating the effect of the mind-body skills groups on boys with behavioral and emotional problem at a high school in Gaza to determine if there is improvement in behavioral and emotional problems, aggression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The results will be compared to a control high school with boys who will not be attending mind-body skills groups and who have experienced similar levels of trauma and also have behavioral and emotional problems. The mind-body skills groups will be held for 2 hours once a week for 10 weeks and then once a month for 10 months. Measures will be taken at baseline, after the 10 week mind-body skills group program and again at 10 month follow-up.

Mind-body skills groups will be administered for 2 hours once a week for 10 weeks and then once a month for 10 months.

No intervention will be administered. Students will have the opportunity to receive the intervention at the end of the study.

Mind-Body Skills groups consist of small groups of about 8-10 participants who learn and practice meditation, guided imagery, breathing techniques, autogenic training, biofeedback, genograms, and self-expression through words, drawings, and movement.

The 25 item Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) measures behavioral and emotional function. These 25 items are divided into 5 subscales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior. The SDQ is scored on a 3 point Likert-type scale with the responses "not true, "somewhat true", and "certainly true". Total SDQ scores include all the subscales except the prosocial scale.

The 25 item Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) measures behavioral and emotional function. These 25 items are divided into 5 subscales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior. The SDQ is scored on a 3 point Likert-type scale with the responses "not true, "somewhat true", and "certainly true". Total SDQ scores include all the subscales except the prosocial scale.

The 25 item Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) measures behavioral and emotional function. These 25 items are divided into 5 subscales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior. The SDQ is scored on a 3 point Likert-type scale with the responses "not true, "somewhat true", and "certainly true". Total SDQ scores include all the subscales except the prosocial scale.

Aggression will be measured using the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) which is a revision of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory that has been widely used to measure aggression. The AQ consists of 34 items scored on a 5 point Likert-type scale with responses ranging from "not at all like me" to "completely like me". The AQ has the following subscales: physical aggression,verbal aggression, anger, hostility, and indirect aggression.

Aggression will be measured using the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) which is a revision of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory that has been widely used to measure aggression. The AQ consists of 34 items scored on a 5 point Likert-type scale with responses ranging from "not at all like me" to "completely like me". The AQ has the following subscales: physical aggression,verbal aggression, anger, hostility, and indirect aggression.

Aggression will be measured using the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) which is a revision of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory that has been widely used to measure aggression. The AQ consists of 34 items scored on a 5 point Likert-type scale with responses ranging from "not at all like me" to "completely like me". The AQ has the following subscales: physical aggression,verbal aggression, anger, hostility, and indirect aggression.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptoms will be measured using the PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5). PCL-5 is a a self-report measure that assesses 20 symptoms of PTSD. The rating scale is 0-4 for each symptom with responses ranging from "Not at all," "A little bit," Moderately," "Quite a bit," to "Extremely."

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptoms will be measured using the PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5). PCL-5 is a a self-report measure that assesses 20 symptoms of PTSD. The rating scale is 0-4 for each symptom with responses ranging from "Not at all," "A little bit," Moderately," "Quite a bit," to "Extremely."

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptoms will be measured using the PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5). PCL-5 is a a self-report measure that assesses 20 symptoms of PTSD. The rating scale is 0-4 for each symptom with responses ranging from "Not at all," "A little bit," Moderately," "Quite a bit," to "Extremely."

Inclusion Criteria: Criteria for eligibility for the study will include having a baseline self-reported score of 18 points or higher on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire which indicates high to very high levels of emotional and behavioral problems Exclusion Criteria: None