A systematic review of psychosocial interventions for child soldiers: types, length and main findings

Abstract

ABSTRACT This systematic review was carried out to identify and evaluate psychosocial intervention strategies and procedures addressed to child soldiers. Following an exploration of peer-reviewed articles published between 2004 and 2018 in the PILOTS, Psycnet, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, 28 of them were finally selected. The predominant theme was post-traumatic stress disorder. The intervention techniques used to deal with this and other problems consisted of established therapies (i.e. interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy), creative-expressive activities (such as dance, music and drama), and other activities promoting training and social interaction (skills training for leadership, self-regulation and reintegration). The cultural adaptation of the techniques and instruments used for intervention was limited to the translation of the instruments – but without verifying their comprehensibility in the majority of cases, which constitutes a problem when assessing the impact of the interventions carried out in the target population. Given that in most cases the results obtained from the interventions present limitations regarding their explanatory potential and generalisation, this review highlights aspects that can inform and improve psychosocial interventions and research geared towards the recovery of the collective of child soldiers.