Research Article
School-based intervention for prevention and treatment of elementary-students' terror-related distress in Israel: A quasi-randomized controlled trial
Rony Berger,
Ruth Pat-Horenczyk,
Marc Gelkopf,
Rony Berger
Israel Trauma Center for the Victims of Terror and War (NATAL), Tel Aviv, Israel
Search for more papers by this authorRuth Pat-Horenczyk
Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma, Herzog Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Marc Gelkopf
Israel Trauma Center for the Victims of Terror and War (NATAL), Tel Aviv, and Lev Hasharon Mental Health Center, Netanya, Israel
Lev-Hasharon Mental Health Center, P.O. 90000, Netanya 42100, IsraelSearch for more papers by this authorRony Berger,
Ruth Pat-Horenczyk,
Marc Gelkopf,
Rony Berger
Israel Trauma Center for the Victims of Terror and War (NATAL), Tel Aviv, Israel
Search for more papers by this authorRuth Pat-Horenczyk
Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma, Herzog Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Marc Gelkopf
Israel Trauma Center for the Victims of Terror and War (NATAL), Tel Aviv, and Lev Hasharon Mental Health Center, Netanya, Israel
Lev-Hasharon Mental Health Center, P.O. 90000, Netanya 42100, IsraelSearch for more papers by this authorAbstract
A school-based intervention for preventing and reducing children's posttraumatic stress-related symptoms, somatic complaints, functional impairment, and anxiety due to exposure to terrorism was evaluated. In a quasi-randomized controlled trial, elementary school students were randomly assigned to an eight-session structured program, “Overshadowing the Threat of Terrorism” or to a waiting list control comparison group. Two months postintervention, the study group reported significant improvement on all measures. The authors conclude that a school-based universal intervention may significantly reduce posttraumatic stress disorder- (PTSD-) related symptoms in children repeatedly exposed to terrorist attacks and propose that it serve as a component of a public mental health approach dealing with children exposed to ongoing terrorism in a country ravaged by war and terrorism.
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