Mental health and psychosocial support for children in areas of armed conflict: call for a systems approach

Factors influencing the first thousand days of life. The importance of Nurturing Care

Background

WHO, Unicef, the World Bank and the Maternal and Child Health Partnership wrote the document "Nurturing care for early child development: a global framework action". This paper highlights the benefits of early intervention and thus the need to invest more in health during this period. The aim of our study is to assess how much social support received by pregnant mothers can influence maternity outcomes.

Materials and Methods

The retrospective observational study was conducted on a sample of mothers enrolled via social networks, who were administered a questionnaire from 1 July to 1 September 2021. The questionnaire consisted of 37 questions, 6 of which were used to calculate the "Maternity Social Support Scale". The ODDs Ratio was calculated.

Results

Our sample consisted of 3447 women. 59.01% were between 26 and 35 years of age. The mean Maternity Social Support Scale (MSSS) score was calculated to be 23.9 points. A low MSSS score correlated with a higher probability of stopping breastfeeding before 6 months of age (OR: 1.2; CI:1.1-1.4) and of having a caesarean section (OR: 1.2; CI: 1.1-1.4) and to a lower probability of having a spontaneous labour (OR: 0.9; CI: 0.7-0.9) and a spontaneous delivery (OR: 0.8; CI: 0.7-0.9). In contrast, a high MSSS score had a lower likelihood of ceasing breastfeeding before 6 months (OR: 0.8; CI: 0.7-0.9) and caesarean section(OR: 0.8; CI: 0.7-0.9) and higher likelihood of spontaneous onset labour (OR: 1.2; CI: 1.1-1.3) and spontaneous delivery (OR: 1.2; CI: 1.1-1.4).

Conclusions

Pregnancy, childbirth and maternity outcomes are strongly influenced and conditioned by the social context in which they occur and the support the woman may receive. The presence or lack of this support may affect the health of newborns.

A short-term approach for promoting oral health of internally displaced children with PTSD: the key is improving mental health-results from a quasi-randomized trial

Background

Several studies have demonstrated that mental (MH) and oral health (OH) of displaced children are negatively affected during the wartime. This may be a result of general self-neglect and psychological suffering. Therefore, previous studies suggested that psychosocial support (PSS) is essential during and after humanitarian crises to prevent immediate and long-term MH and OH problems. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term approach in improving (MH) and (OH) of displaced children suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Methods

A quasi-randomized clinical trial study was carried out including (118) displaced children suffering from PTSD. The Child Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction Index (CPTSD-RI) was utilized for the diagnosis of PTSD. Children were assigned into two groups (intervention and control group). Children in the intervention group were enrolled in a 6-week PSS program that contained oral health educational components designed especially for this study. Clinical evaluation included plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI). Oral health related Quality of life (OHRQoL) was also evaluated using child perception questionnaire (CPQ_11-14). Study variables were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the program for both groups. Wilcoxon rank test and t-test for independent samples were used for data analysis.

Results

A total of 118 children, aged between 9 and 14 years, participated in the recent study (mean age 11.0 ± 1.4). All participated children were previously diagnosed with PTSD. At baseline, there were no significant differences in the study variables between groups (P > 0.05). At the end of the program, children in the intervention group had significantly decreased PI, GI, CPQ_11-14 and CPTSD-RI compared to their baseline scores (P = 0.000). In contrast, controls showed no differences at the end of the program (P > 0.05). Children in the intervention group had significantly (P = 0.000) lower PI (1.52 ± 0.55) and GI (1.48 ± 0.56) when compared to controls (PI = 1.89 ± 0.39, GI = 2.14 ± 0.32) post program. Moreover, the intervention group showed remarkable decline (P < 0.001) in their CPQ_11-14 (47.16 ± 12.24) and CPTSD-RI (34.41 ± 12.23) scores compared to controls (CPQ_{11-14 =} 72.65 ± 14.47, CPTSD-RI = 47.91 ± 14.24) post program.

Conclusions

The designed approach could have positive improvements in PTSD symptoms, (OH) and (OHRQoL) of displaced children. Integration between (MH) and (OH) services should be considered during and after humanitarian crises to prevent immediate and long-term MH and OH problems.

Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619000285156), Date registered: 25/02/2019, retrospectively registered. https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=377001&isReview=true.