Psychological Interventions for PTSD Children and Adolescents Within Two Years of Natural Disasters: A Systematic Scoping Review

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.