Publications from the STRENGTHS project and other useful resources

Several STRENGTHS collaborators were involved in new publications that are relevant for the project:

• Le, L., Morina, N., Schnyder, U., Schick, M., Bryant, R. A., & Nickerson, A. (2018). The effects of perceived torture controllability on symptom severity of posttraumatic stress, depression and anger in refugees and asylum seekers: A path analysis. Psychiatry research, 264, 143-150.

Scalable psychological intervention in Lebanon:

• Carswell, K., Harper-Shehadeh, M., Watts, S., van’t Hof, E., Abi Ramia, J., Heim, E., . . . van Ommeren, M. (2018). Step-by-Step: a new WHO digital mental health intervention for depression. mHealth, 4(8). 

Scalable psychological intervention with refugees:

• Tol, W. A. A., J., Carswell, K., Leku, M.R., Adaku, A., Brown, F.L., Garcia-Moreno, C., Ventevogel, P., White, R., Kogan, C.S., Bryant, R., van Ommeren, M. (2018). Feasibility of a guided self-help intervention to reduce psychological distress in South Sudanese refugee women in Uganda. World Psychiatry, 17(2)
• Tol, W. A., Augustinavicius, J., Carswell, K., Brown, F. L., Adaku, A., Leku, M. R., Ventevogel, P. , White R.G. & Van Ommeren, M. (2018). Translation, adaptation, and pilot of a guided self-help intervention to reduce psychological distress in South Sudanese refugees in Uganda. Global Mental Health, 5

PM+ in Kenya:

• van’t Hof, E., Dawson, K. S., Schafer, A., Chiumento, A., Shehadeh, M. H., Sijbrandij, M., … & Ulate, J. (2018). A qualitative evaluation of a brief multicomponent intervention provided by lay health workers for women affected by adversity in urban Kenya. Global Mental Health, 5.

PM+ in Nepal:

• Sangraula M, van’t Hof E, Luitel NP, Turner EL, Marahatta K, Nakao JH, van Ommeren M, Jordans MJ, Kohrt BA. (2018. Protocol for a feasibility study of group-based focused psychosocial support to improve the psychosocial well-being and functioning of adults affected by humanitarian crises in Nepal: Group Problem Management Plus (PM+). Pilot and Feasibility Studies 4(1):126.

Mental health issues of refugees in the Netherlands:

• Slobodin O, Ghane S, De Jong JT. Developing a culturally sensitive mental health intervention for asylum seekers in the Netherlands: A pilot study. Intervention [serial online] 2018 [cited 2018 Aug 17];16:86-94.

Scientific publications

The first scientific article of the STRENGTHS project has been published, in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology. The paper is written by Marit Sijbrandij, Associate Professor at VU Amsterdam and coordinator of the consortium, and her colleagues. It describes why the project is needed and what the consortium intends to do:
Strengthening mental health care systems for Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle East: integrating scalable psychological interventions in eight countries

Further reading

The STRENGTHS project adapts Problem Management Plus (PM+) a ‘scalable psychological intervention’ for use amongst Syrian refugees. The PM+ intervention has not been tested in this group yet but in the last few years several research articles have been published about the intervention. Part of our work was to collect and review the available literature. Some interesting articles providing background to Problem Management Plus are:

General information about PM+:

• Problem Management Plus (PM+): a WHO transdiagnostic psychological intervention for common mental health problems

Results of randomised controlled trials:

• Effectiveness of a brief behavioural intervention on psychological distress among women with a history of gender-based violence in urban Kenya: A randomised clinical trial
• Effect of a Multicomponent Behavioral Intervention in Adults Impaired by Psychological Distress in a Conflict-Affected Area of Pakistan: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Research protocols:

• Problem Management Plus (PM+) in the management of common mental disorders in a specialized mental healthcare facility in Pakistan; study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
• Problem Management Plus (PM+) for common mental disorders in a humanitarian setting in Pakistan; study protocol for a randomised controlled trial (RCT)
• Evaluating effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a group psychological intervention using cognitive behavioural strategies for women with common mental disorders in conflict-affected rural Pakistan: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
• Evaluating feasibility and acceptability of a group WHO trans-diagnostic intervention for women with common mental disorders in rural Pakistan: a cluster randomised controlled feasibility trial
• Problem Management Plus (PM+) in the treatment of common mental disorders in women affected by gender-based violence and urban adversity in Kenya; study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
• Feasibility trial of a scalable psychological intervention for women affected by urban adversity and gender-based violence in Nairobi