Impact Case Study: Demonstrating the effectiveness of mental health support for war-affected adolescents

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the mental health impacts of humanitarian crises, including conflict. Psychosocial interventions exist to help alleviate stress and foster holistic development and wellbeing, but evidence of their effectiveness has been limited. This study examined the impacts of an innovative psychosocial intervention delivered by Mercy Corps to adolescents in Jordan affected by the Syrian crisis.

Study findings validated the intervention, helping Mercy Corps secure additional funding, and informed amendments to programme design and global organisational policy. They demonstrated the value of applying a rigorous, mixed-method research design to test intervention impacts in humanitarian settings and increased the capacity of researchers and humanitarian organisations to test similar interventions. The study led to sustained partnerships which continue to build the evidence base on health and psychosocial wellbeing in humanitarian settings.

R2HC captures detailed case studies through a process that triangulates and validates evidence on uptake and impact. The case study methodology and full version of this summary case study including references are available on request. Outputs and resources from this study are available on the project page.