Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 2 of 2
Trauma exposure in pre-school children in a war zone
- Authors:
- THABET Abel Aziz Mousa, KARIM Khalid, VOSTANIS Panos
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 188(2), February 2006, pp.154-158.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This study investigates the relationship between exposure to war trauma and behavioural and emotional problems among pre-school children. A total of 309 children aged 3–6 years were selected from kindergartens in the Gaza Strip, and were assessed by parental reports in regard to their exposure to war trauma, using the Gaza Traumatic Checklist, and their behavioural and emotional problems, using the Behaviour Checklist (BCL) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The results found that pre-school children were exposed to a wide range of traumatic events. The total number of traumatic events independently predicted total BCL and SDQ scores. Exposure to day raids and shelling of the children’s houses by tanks were significantly associated with total behavioural and emotional problems scores. The authors conclude that direct and non-direct exposure to war trauma increases the risk of behavioural and emotional problems among pre-school children, which may present as non-specific psychopathology.
A UK survey on how homeless shelters respond to the mental health needs of homeless young people
- Authors:
- TAYLOR Helen, STUTTAFORD Maria, VOSTANIS Panos
- Journal article citation:
- Housing Care and Support, 9(2), October 2006, pp.13-18.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Research and national policies have highlighted that accommodation providers need to offer holistic interventions to encourage young homeless people with mental health needs to break the cycle of homelessness. In this study a postal questionnaire was sent to 132 managers of the Foyer Federations homeless shelters in the UK, achieving a response rate of 64.4%. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were calculated, and written data was analysed using content analysis. Mental health problems were prevalent, and homeless shelters responded in a variety of ways (use of GP services, internal services, referring to external services, in-house outreach services, no service provision, etc). Only 27% of managers of homeless shelters reported that their services were sufficient to meet their young people's needs. These findings reflect the need for inclusion of mental health in homeless shelters' strategic objectives, and development of commissioning of local partnerships with health agencies.