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Support for Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET) Program: An Approach for Building Resilience and Social Support Among Flood-Impacted Children

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Abstract

The present study is a pilot study to examine the initial effectiveness of the Support for Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET) program (Jaycox et al. in Support for Students Exposed to Trauma: the SSET program. Lesson plans, worksheets, and materials. TR-675, RAND, Santa Monica, CA, 2009) in reducing PTSD symptoms and building resilience and social support among children living in flood-affected rural areas of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. One hundred and ninety-three children were screened for symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and 38% met eligibility criteria. Children were then randomly assigned into experimental (n = 38) and control (n = 37) groups. The findings of the study showed a significant reduction in PTSD symptoms, and improvement in resilience, and perceived social support in the experimental group. The result of the study demonstrates that SSET, delivered by a clinically trained provider, may be an effective intervention for treating traumatic stress symptoms among children affected by natural disasters like flooding, particularly in under-resourced contexts. This pilot lays the initial groundwork for SSET in this context, which may ultimately be implemented by non-clinicians to address trauma-related psychological issues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Psychology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

    Rizwana Amin & Khizra Iqbal

  2. Department of Professional Psychology, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Rizwana Amin

  3. Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, 152 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854-8020, USA

    Erum Nadeem

  4. Labour and Human Resource Department, Government of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Khizra Iqbal

  5. Department of Management Sciences, Air University Multan Campus, Multan, Pakistan

    Muhammad Ali Asadullah

  6. Department of Education, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

    Bashir Hussain

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Amin, R., Nadeem, E., Iqbal, K. et al. Support for Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET) Program: An Approach for Building Resilience and Social Support Among Flood-Impacted Children. School Mental Health 12, 493–506 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-020-09373-y

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