The investigation of change mechanisms in trauma-focused interventions for traumatized refugee minors

• Applicant: Elisa Maria Pfeiffer, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 447787115

Refugee minors constitute a highly vulnerable population for experiencing traumatic events and reporting trauma-related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression. There is a large body of research on how to successfully treat these disorders in children and adolescents and several studies have already investigated state-of-the-art interventions in refugee minors. There is, however, a significant gap in the literature regarding predictors (moderators) of the symptom reduction and change mechanisms (mediators) in individual and especially group-based interventions. Hence, we know which interventions work, but not how they work. This fellowship proposal therefore aims at investigating potential moderators and mediators in an evidence-based trauma-focused group intervention for traumatized refugee minors. In research question 1, I will investigate several crucial moderators of PTSD and depression symptom reduction in the course of treatment. Next to psychopathology, so-called post-migration stressors (e.g. separation from family or discrimination), socio-demographic factors and daily functioning will be investigated. In research question 2, depression will be evaluated as a mediator of PTSD symptom change as these disorders share several characteristics and trauma-focused interventions result in symptom reductions in both disorders.This fellowship will be embedded in the European Horizon 2020 project “RefugeesWellSchool” (https://refugeeswellschool.org), at the Ghent University with Prof. Dr. Ilse Derluyn being the main project coordinator. This project’s overall objective is to evaluate the role of preventive, school-based interventions in promoting refugee and migrant adolescent’s mental well-being, and successfully implementing them in diverse routine educational settings in different European countries. This fellowship proposal is particularly beneficial for investigating moderators and mediators of trauma-focused interventions because the project has a comparatively high, heterogeneous and representative sample size including refugee minors who live in different European countries. The findings of this proposal will have important implications for the development, evaluation, and dissemination of trauma-focused interventions in general. They also may guide practitioners in implementing trauma-focused interventions in the future, as the results might shed light on the important question which individual factors to focus on during the delivery of a treatment.On a personal level, the proposed fellowship at Ghent University will help me to expand my knowledge about refugee mental health and trauma-focused interventions, improve my methodological skills, and create opportunities for further projects and collaborations. Moreover, the fellowship will equip me with a broad portfolio of skills to pursue a successful research career in Germany and to be able to acquire funding for own research projects in the future.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: Belgium
• Host: Professorin Ilse Derluyn, Ph.D.