Psychosocial assistance project decreases posttraumatic stress disorder and depression amongst primary and secondary schools students in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina

Objective. To assess whether psychosocial support of the School Project of the Humanitarian Society (HS) “Prijateljice (Girlfriends)” had a positive effect on reducing posttraumatic consequences in Bosnia-Herzegovina primary and secondary school students, aft er the 1992-1995 war. Subjects and Methods. A stratified sample of 336 students, aged 13.5±1.6 (10 to 18) years, in primary and secondary schools, involved in psychosocial support, were compared with 72 randomly selected peers from the same schools, not involved in this project. Data were collected in December 2005 and in May 2006. Th e Children’s Depression Inventory and the Child Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction Index were utilized. Statistical analysis involved McNemar’s test, Students’ t-test, Chi-square test and Pearson’s correlation test. Results. According to DSM, the prevalence of PTSD and depression among students involved in the School Project, significantly decreased from 46.1% to 13.4% and 25.6% to 1.8%, respectively (McNemar’s test,P<0.001; P<0.001, respectively). In the control group the prevalenceof PTSP and depression decreased from 30.5% to 23.6% and 22.2%to 11.1%, respectively, with no significance (McNemar’s test, p=0.332; p=0.077, significantly). Girls had a significantly higher prevalence of both PTSD and depression compared to the boys. Age, the numberof traumatic episodes, and suicidal behavior correlated with the intensity of PTSD symptoms and depression symptoms. Conclusions.Psychosocial support within the School Project resulted in a significant reduction of PTSP and depression amongst the involved students compared to the controls. Schools and other institutions ought to envisage as many projects as possible to be implemented in school and out-of-school to assist young people to overcome more easily the consequences of the war in their development.