{"title":"Psychological Interventions for PTSD Children and Adolescents Within Two Years of Natural Disasters: A Systematic Scoping Review.","authors":"Qi Yue Chen, See Heng Yim, Andrea Pickering","doi":"10.1007/s40653-026-00847-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Natural disasters are becoming more common in response to climate change. There is growing recognition of the traumatic impact on the psychological development of children and young people (CYP), due to their vulnerability. Considering the high prevalence of PTSD among natural disaster survivors, it is crucial to identify and implement effective psychological interventions for CYP, particularly in the early post-traumatic period to mitigate worsening implications for mental health. This systematic scoping review aims to summarize the current types of psychological and psychosocial interventions for CYP's PTSD within two-year post-disaster, settings that they were used in, as well as their effectiveness. This review adhered to PRISMA-ScR and TIDieR checklist to screen, evaluate, extract and synthesise studies. Inclusion criteria included CYP who were suffering from stress-related symptoms post-disaster. A total of 18 papers showing 16 unique studies were included, interventions included CBT, Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), psychological first aid (PFA), play therapy and integrative programmes. Most were conducted in school contexts. There was a mixture of task-sharing interventions (delivered by non-specialists) and psychologist-delivered interventions. Most studies found significant reduction in PTSD symptoms except for a study on play therapy and another on school-based teacher-delivered psychosocial programme. Psychological interventions were effective in treating CYP's PTSD within two years after a disaster. However, this area is still under-researched and critical evidence is still lacking, such as the comparison of treatments and optimal timing of interventions, longitudinal evaluations, as well as how mitigating factors affect their effectiveness.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-026-00847-w.</p>","PeriodicalId":44763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","volume":"19 3","pages":"1559-1580"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13546279/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-026-00847-w","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/9/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"FAMILY STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Natural disasters are becoming more common in response to climate change. There is growing recognition of the traumatic impact on the psychological development of children and young people (CYP), due to their vulnerability. Considering the high prevalence of PTSD among natural disaster survivors, it is crucial to identify and implement effective psychological interventions for CYP, particularly in the early post-traumatic period to mitigate worsening implications for mental health. This systematic scoping review aims to summarize the current types of psychological and psychosocial interventions for CYP's PTSD within two-year post-disaster, settings that they were used in, as well as their effectiveness. This review adhered to PRISMA-ScR and TIDieR checklist to screen, evaluate, extract and synthesise studies. Inclusion criteria included CYP who were suffering from stress-related symptoms post-disaster. A total of 18 papers showing 16 unique studies were included, interventions included CBT, Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), psychological first aid (PFA), play therapy and integrative programmes. Most were conducted in school contexts. There was a mixture of task-sharing interventions (delivered by non-specialists) and psychologist-delivered interventions. Most studies found significant reduction in PTSD symptoms except for a study on play therapy and another on school-based teacher-delivered psychosocial programme. Psychological interventions were effective in treating CYP's PTSD within two years after a disaster. However, this area is still under-researched and critical evidence is still lacking, such as the comparison of treatments and optimal timing of interventions, longitudinal evaluations, as well as how mitigating factors affect their effectiveness.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-026-00847-w.
期刊介绍:
Underpinned by a biopsychosocial approach, the Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma presents original research and prevention and treatment strategies for understanding and dealing with symptoms and disorders related to the psychological effects of trauma experienced by children and adolescents during childhood and where the impact of these experiences continues into adulthood. The journal also examines intervention models directed toward the individual, family, and community, new theoretical models and approaches, and public policy proposals and innovations. In addition, the journal promotes rigorous investigation and debate on the human capacity for agency, resilience and longer-term healing in the face of child and adolescent trauma. With a multidisciplinary approach that draws input from the psychological, medical, social work, sociological, public health, legal and education fields, the journal features research, intervention approaches and evidence-based programs, theoretical articles, specific review articles, brief reports and case studies, and commentaries on current and/or controversial topics. The journal also encourages submissions from less heard voices, for example in terms of geography, minority status or service user perspectives.
Among the topics examined in the Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma:
The effects of childhood maltreatment
Loss, natural disasters, and political conflict
Exposure to or victimization from family or community violence
Racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation or class discrimination
Physical injury, diseases, and painful or debilitating medical treatments
The impact of poverty, social deprivation and inequality
Barriers and facilitators on pathways to recovery
The Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma is an important resource for practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and academics whose work is centered on children exposed to traumatic events and adults exposed to traumatic events as children.