A systematic review of psychosocial interventions for child soldiers: types, length and main findings

ABSTRACT

This systematic review was carried out to identify and evaluate psychosocial intervention strategies and procedures addressed to child soldiers. Following an exploration of peer-reviewed articles published between 2004 and 2018 in the PILOTS, Psycnet, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, 28 of them were finally selected. The predominant theme was post-traumatic stress disorder. The intervention techniques used to deal with this and other problems consisted of established therapies (i.e. interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy), creative-expressive activities (such as dance, music and drama), and other activities promoting training and social interaction (skills training for leadership, self-regulation and reintegration). The cultural adaptation of the techniques and instruments used for intervention was limited to the translation of the instruments – but without verifying their comprehensibility in the majority of cases, which constitutes a problem when assessing the impact of the interventions carried out in the target population. Given that in most cases the results obtained from the interventions present limitations regarding their explanatory potential and generalisation, this review highlights aspects that can inform and improve psychosocial interventions and research geared towards the recovery of the collective of child soldiers.

KEYWORDS:

• Armed conflict
• child soldiers
• childhood
• psychosocial intervention
• reintegration
• systematic review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Violeta Ramírez-Guarín

Violeta Ramírez-Guarín. MSc in Psychosocial Intervention from the University of Barcelona. As a social psychologist, she has been involved in several projects focused on the empowerment and the recovery of people affected by social conflicts in Colombia – especially children.

Nuria Codina

Nuria Codina. PhD in Psychology and full-time professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology at the University of Barcelona. Her lines of psychosocial research focus on time and leisure activities, leisure experiences, enjoyment and autonomy in the practice of structured and unstructured activities, procrastination and temporal orientations, and psychosocial interventions.

José Vicente Pestana

José Vicente Pestana. PhD in Psychology and full-time professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology at the University of Barcelona. His scientific career is based on the interweaving of leisure activities in the everyday lives of individuals — with emphasis on the development of the person (having recently incorporated the Jungian analytical perspective). Specialised in the study of theatre as a setting for psychosocial intervention.