Effectiveness of a Trauma/Grief–Focused Group Intervention: A Qualitative Study with War–Exposed Bosnian Adolescents

Abstract

The effectiveness and impacts of a school–based, trauma/grief-focused group treatment program for war-exposed youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina were investigated using semistructured focus groups, conducted separately for students and their school counselor group leaders. Overall, students’ and leaders’ evaluations of the groups were generally positive. General themes of outcomes and impacts perceived by students and group leaders include: acquisition of coping skills and attitudes, willingness to advocate for peers, improved interpersonal relationships, negative impacts, general positive impacts, impacts in the schools, impacts on the group and logistics of the program, and broader impacts on the perception of mental health in the community. The broad positive impacts of this program suggest that trauma/grief-focused group treatment intervention programs targeting trauma–exposed youth may be effective on multiple levels with war-exposed youth and their communities.