Culture-sensitive Emotion Regulation Group Therapy for Traumatized Refugees

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Status: Completed

Conditions: Trauma

Treatments: Behavioral: Skills training of Affect-Regulation - A culture-sensitive approach: STARK

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03162679

022ERT

Details and patient eligibility

About

There is a lack of studies on treatment effect in traumatised refugees. Recent findings indicate that emotion regulation deficits play a key role in PTSD also among traumatized refugees and highlight the importance and potential directions for the development of an emotion regulation training for refugees. In this study, the investigators therefore want to examine the effectiveness of a new, transdiagnostic, cultural-sensitive group therapy, which systematically teaches specific emotion regulation strategies. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the emotion regulation training, delivered in group format or a wait list control condition. The study takes place in cooperation with REFUGIO Munich, which is a treatment centre specialised in the treatment of traumatised refugees. Clinicians will deliver the treatment to traumatized asylum seekers and refugees that report difficulties in emotion regulation. The investigators will examine if refugees and asylum seekers in the intervention group will show improvements in psychological symptoms, social functioning as well as in emotion regulation in comparison to a wait list control group which will receive the treatment after the intervention group has completed. The group therapy covers 14 sessions and has a cognitive-behavioural background. It focuses on conveying strategies to cope with intense feelings and the patients should gain a sense of self-efficacy and control over their trauma-relevant feelings and symptoms. Qualified interpreters will be used in the assessments as well as group therapies.

Enrollment: 44 patients

Sex: Male

Ages: 15 to 21 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Refugee or asylum seeker from Afghanistan, speaking Dari
• reporting at least one traumatic event on a trauma list
• reporting difficulties in emotion regulation
• between the age of 15 and 21 years

Exclusion criteria

• Psychosis
• Serious suicidal ideations
• Currently receiving psychotherapy elsewhere
• Serious dissociation

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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44 participants in 2 patient groups

Emotion Regulation Group Therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Participants assigned to this condition will receive treatment immediately after assignment.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Skills training of Affect-Regulation - A culture-sensitive approach: STARK

Wait List Control

No Intervention group

Description:

This condition is a wait-list control and receives no intervention during the study period, but is offered treatment after the final assessment directly after the treatment phase of the intervention group.