Groups for children and adolescents with trauma-related symptoms: outcomes and processes

The study was conducted in Israel following the 2006 Lebanon war. The purpose was to examine the impact of counseling groups employing an expressive-supportive modality on children and adolescents with war-related or divorce/loss-related trauma symptoms. The 164 children were placed into 18 small groups for 10 weekly sessions. The children were screened for traumatic stress symptoms and then randomly divided into experimental and control (wait-list) conditions. All participants completed the measures of the dependent variables (trauma symptoms, anxiety), a social support measure, and group-process measures (group relationships, group cohesion, and catharsis). Results indicated a significantly sharper reduction in trauma symptoms and anxiety in the experimental group than in the control group, regardless of type of trauma. A reduction in anxiety was predicted by gains in social support and group cohesiveness.