Mind-body Skills Groups for War-Related Trauma in Adolescents in Gaza

Mind-body Skills Groups for the Treatment of War-Related Trauma in Adolescents in Gaza: A Randomized Controlled Study

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if mind-body skills groups can reduce posttraumatic stress disorder and emotional and behavioral problems in war-traumatized adolescents in Gaza.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Do mind-body skills groups reduce posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in war-traumatized adolescents in Gaza?
• Do mind-body skills groups reduce emotional and behavioral problems in war-traumatized adolescents in Gaza?

Researchers will compare the results of adolescents who do not attend mind-body skills groups to adolescents who attend mind-body skills groups see if those who attend groups have less posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and emotional and behavioral problems.

Participants will:

• Be screened to determine whether they qualify to be in the study
• If they qualify, they will attend 5 mind-body skills group sessions (if they are not in the control group)
• Fill out research packets before the first session, after the last session, and at 2-month follow-up.

Inclusion Criteria:

• being 11-17 years old and living in Gaza
• having experienced a political violence or war-related criterion A stressor
• meeting the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-(DSM-5-TR) criteria for PTSD according to the screening cut-off score on the Child PTSD Symptom Scale-5 (CPSS-5).

Exclusion Criteria:

• former psychotherapy or medication to treat mental disorders
• having significant cognitive impairment.