Children and Adolescents: This project was initiated in 1996, while the “Grapes of Wrath” Israeli operation was taking place. Several programs were launched then to support the displaced families and help those who stayed in the bombarded areas. One of these programs was the one initiated by IDRAAC, which aimed at assessing the mental health and relieving the distress of the traumatized children.
This program consisted of three main components:
The first component focused on assessing the mental health of 45,000 students (6-17 years) directly after the military operation (Phase I -1996). They were represented by a sample of 386 students. Both children and their parents were administered the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA) and parents were administered the War Events Questionnaire (WEQ) to measure war exposure. A subgroup of 143 students was followed one year later (Phase II-1997) to measure the persistence of mental health disorders and to understand the long term impact of war.
The second component was a school-based group treatment of 2500 students of the most affected villages. A group of 116 students representing the 2500 in Phase I (1996) was selected to assess their mental health before the treatment was delivered. They were followed one year later (Phase II-1997) after the treatment to measure its effectiveness. Please visit the services section to see details of this school based project.
The third component consisted of war orphans who lost one or two of their parents as well as siblings during the bombarding of a U.N shelter at Qana, one of the villages in South Lebanon. These children were being followed yearly in a “Child Care Program” that assesses their psychological, medical, and social needs from 1997 to 2004. Social workers were trained by IDRAAC to intervene in the community at a family and school level. Cases were treated in individual therapy by a Child and Adolescent Psychologist. Presentations based on this study can be found below.
To view the list of publications from the above studies please click here
IDRAAC’s Presentations and International Conferences about War and Mental Health
Karam EG (December, 2006). “Mental Health Disorders and War: National Data”. Research Presentation at the Lebanese Psychiatric Society (LPS), Beirut, Lebanon.
Fayyad J (December, 2006). "Mental Health Impact and Interventions for Children and Adolescents Exposed to War Trauma". Research Presentation at the Lebanese Psychiatric Society (LPS), Beirut, Lebanon.
Karam EG, Fayyad J (November, 2006). “Group treatment of War Trauma in Children” . Research Presentation at the Lebanese Epidemiologic Association (LEA), Beirut, Lebanon.
Karam EG (November, 2006). “Mental Health and War: The L.E.B.A.N.O.N.” Research Presentation at the American University of Beirut, Faculty of Health Sciences (AUB-FHS), Beirut, Lebanon.
Fayyad J, Cordahi-Tabet C (November, 2006). “The impact of war on children and Adolescents in Lebanon”. Research Presentation at the American community School (ACS), Beirut, Lebanon.
Karam EG (May, 2006). “PTSD: Looking towards DSM V”. Research Presentation at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Toronto, Canada.
Fayyad J, Cordahi Tabet C (April, 2006). "Les traumatismes de guerre : Perceptions et réalités". Research Presentation at the colloque « Penser le trauma, penser la résilience » organized by l’Association Pour la Protection de l’Enfant de la Guerre under the auspices of his Excellency Dr. Mohammad Khalifé, Minister of Public Health, Gefinor Rotana Hotel, Beirut, Lebanon.
Karam EG (June, 2005). “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”. Research Presentation at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Washington, DC, USA.
Karam EG (December, 2004). “War Sequelae and Mental Health: A research from Lebanon”. Research Presentation at the International Congress of Ministers of Health for Mental Health and Post-Conflict Recovery, Project 1 Billion, Rome, Italy.
Karam EG (December, 2004). “War and Mental Health: Children and Adults”. Research Presentation at the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) Conference, Damascus, Syria.
Fayyad J (August, 2004). “Group Therapeutic Interventions for Children and Adolescents Exposed to War: Lessons Learnt from Research”. Research Presentation at the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP), Berlin, Germany.
Karam EG, Mneimneh Z, Ghandour L, Fayyad J, Karam A, Cordahi-Tabet C, Melhem N, and Yabroudi P (July, 2003). “War Trauma”. Research Presentation at the World Psychiatric Association Epidemiology (WPA), Paris, France.
Karam EG, Fayyad J, Mneimneh Z, Karam A, Cordahi-Tabet C, Melhem N, Zebouni V, Kayyali G, Yabroudi P, Rashidi N, and Dimassi H (July, 2003). “Is Subsyndromic PTSD in Children and Adolescents a Valid Entity?: Findings From Epidemiologic Study of War”. Research Presentation at the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) Trauma Conference, Rome, Italy.
Karam EG, Karam A, Fayyad J, Cordahi-Tabet C, Mneimneh Z, Melhem N, Zebouni V, Kayyali G, Yabroudi P, Rashidi N, and Dimassi H (July, 2003). “Is Community Group Treatment After War Exposure Effective?”. Research Presentation at the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) Trauma Conference, Rome, Italy.
Karam EG, Cordahi-Tabet C, Fayyad J, and Karam A (May, 2003). “War Trauma” and “Mental Health Sequelae of the Lebanon Wars” . Research Presentation at the 156th American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting, San Fransisco, USA.
Cordahi-Tabet C, Karam EG, Nehme G, Fayyad J, Melhem N, Bou Ghosn M, and Kabbara H. (October 2002).“Orphans of War: A Four Year Prospective Longitudinal Study" Research presentation at the 49th Annual Meeting of the AACAP (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), San Francisco, USA
Fayyad JA, Karam EG, Karam A, Cordahi-Tabet C, Melhem N, Mneimneh Z, Zebouni V, Kayali G, Yabroudi P, Rashidi N and Dimasi H (October 2002). “Community Group Therapy in Children and Adolescents Exposed to War”, Research presentation at the 49th Annual Meeting of the AACAP (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), San Francisco, USA.
Karam EG, Cordahi-Tabet C, Mneimneh Z, Fayyad J, and Karam A (June, 2002).“Impact of War on Psychiatric Service Provision and Policy”. Research Presentation at the Royal College of Psychiatrists; Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Karam EG, Karam A, Cordahi-Tabet C,
Fayyad J, Melhem N, Mneimneh Z, Zebouni V, Kayali G, Yabroudi P, Rashidi N, and Dimasi H (June, 2001). “Concordance of Mothers and Children’s Reports of Childhood Psychopathology on Structured Interviews”. Research Presentation at the IXth Congress of the Federation of Arab Psychiatrists, Tunisia.
Karam EG, Cordahi-Tabet C, Mneimneh Z, Fayyad J, and Karam A (December, 2001). “War and Trauma: A Large Scale Psychological Prevention Program / Orphans of War”. Research Presentation at ALFEST (Association de Langue Francaise pour l’Etude du Stress et du Trauma), Paris, France.
Karam EG, Karam A, Cordahi-Tabet C,
Fayyad J, Melhem N, Mneimneh Z, Zebouni V, Kayali G, Yabroudi P, Rashidi N and Dimasi H. (October, 2000). “Community Group Treatment and Outcome of War Trauma in Children”. In: Abstracts of the 47th Annual Meeting of the AACAP (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry); New York, USA.
Karam EG, Karam A, Cordahi-Tabet C,
Fayyad J, Melhem N, Mneimneh Z, Zebouni V, Kayali G, Yabroudi P, Rashidi N and Dimasi H. (November, 2000). “The Course of Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Children and Adolescents”. Research Presentation at the Regional World Psychiatric Association and the Arab Federation of Psychiatrists Congress; Cairo, Egypt.