Principal Investigator: Catherine Panter-Brick (Yale University)
This research assessed the health impact of Advancing Adolescents, a psychosocial intervention of structured, group-based activities for youth affected by the Syria and Iraq crises. This programme is a brief, scalable intervention, implemented by Mercy Corps in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey as part of the No Lost Generation initiative. It is strategic in focusing on adolescence, a key time for protecting the next generation and building its future, and innovative in serving both refugee & host communities.
The impact evaluation was a randomised controlled trial, measuring the impacts of profound stress attunement for 11-15 year old Syrian refugee and Jordanian youth, living in five urban centers in northern Jordan. It examined psychosocial, physiological and cognitive outcomes – stress in the mind, the body, and the brain – as well as levels of resilience, at three time-points (pre-intervention, post-intervention, 1-year follow-up).
Youth-focused interventions in humanitarian crises had never previously measured stress alleviation in ways that go beyond subjective self-reports, through measuring ‘stress under the skin’ or ‘toxic stress’ in the brain. This mixed-method study was the first to do so, including measures of stress biomarkers and tablet-based tests of cognitive function. Robust scientific assessments are essential in order to inform potential scale up strategies.
Visit Yale University’s project website to learn more.
The study evaluated two iterations of the Advancing Adolescents programme and assessed:
The study demonstrated the effectiveness of methods of assessment that go beyond self-reports. The use of hair cortisol, as a marker of chronic physiological stress, is a compelling indicator of stress regulation, which is an important outcome for crisis-affected populations.
As a result of the study, Mercy Corps has incorporated the key study findings into regional programming, and expanded the inclusion of psychosocial support as part of larger livelihoods interventions in Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Palestine.
Mercy Corps has also adopted three Arabic-language tools – the Child Youth Resilience Measure, the Human Insecurity scale and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire – in ongoing programming in the Middle East Region, as this study demonstrated their relevance for research monitoring and impact evaluations.
You are seeing this because you are using a browser that is not supported. The Elrha website is built using modern technology and standards. We recommend upgrading your browser with one of the following to properly view our website:
Windows MacPlease note that this is not an exhaustive list of browsers. We also do not intend to recommend a particular manufacturer's browser over another's; only to suggest upgrading to a browser version that is compliant with current standards to give you the best and most secure browsing experience.