Psychosocial Support

The best form of psychosocial support is a healthy family and supportive environment, preferably in the child's community of origin, or one that is culturally similar. Psychosocial well-being is a product of multiple support, which is rooted in the ability to form healthy relationships and participate in community networks.

However, certain considerations may be required in order to help children and caretakers come to terms with life-changing events, such as the loss of a parent. Separation can be highly stressful for children, particularly if it is unexpected, or repeated. Some children may experience anxiety, attachment problems, sleep disturbances, dependency issues, regression, and a range of other behavioural issues which threaten their mental health and development.

Specific types of support may be required for children suffering from loss, severe or chronic ill health, abuse or exploitation. The child’s experience, age, resilience, and the level of support received from the family and community will determine if a child needs external services. A child is far less likely to experience psychosocial stress if they have good natural support mechanisms and therefore protection efforts should focus on supporting families and communities to help each other.

When psychosocial support is needed, an assessment is important in determining the scope and type of issues, the existing family and community resources, and analysis of how these can be strengthened. Clinical mental health interventions such as therapy, psychiatry or psychological counseling, should only be provided by trained professionals after a clinical assessment and, in all cases, should be culturally relevant.

Psychosocial activities must promote the children’s development and their relationships with others, re-establish routines, increase self confidence and sense of control over their lives. Children’s activities, such as the provision of safe places, group work or referrals to specialists, should be designed around the child’s individual needs, age, gender, and cultural identity. Interventions should be empowering, inclusive, and fully integrated with wider community efforts. Children’s participation is essential in psychosocial work; children should be encouraged to express their opinions, and to have these taken into account.

The literature found here describes the psychosocial effects of separation, and other threats to children such as HIV/AIDS, conflict, abuse and exploitation, and provides guidance and examples of psychosocial interventions.

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INEE PSS-SEL Training Module

Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), 22 Nov 2019

This module outlines 3 hours (180 minutes) of training activities and materials related to psychosocial support (PSS) and social and emotional learning (SEL) in emergency contexts.

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Exploiting Administrative Data to Understand the Mental Health of Children Known to Social Services

Sarah McKenna, Aideen Maguire, Dermot O'Reilly - The International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS), 08 Nov 2019

The aim of this study is to examine mental ill-health amongst children known to social services based on care exposure including those who remain at home, those placed in foster care, kinship care or institutional care and the general population not known to social services.

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Family separation and refugee mental health–A network perspective

Lea-Maria Löbel - Social Networks, 04 Nov 2019

This study finds that the size of the nuclear family has a significant positive relationship with refugees’ mental health, whereas family separation has a significant negative relationship.

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Mental disorders in children known to child protection services during early childhood

Melissa J. Green, Gabrielle Hindmarsh, Maina Kariuki, Kristin R. Laurens, Amanda L Neil, Ilan Katz, Marilyn Chilvers, Felicity Harris, Vaughan J Carr - The Medical Journal of Australia, 03 Nov 2019

The objective of this study was to examine associations between being the subject of child protection reports in early childhood and diagnoses of mental disorders during middle childhood, by level of service response.

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Country Care Review: Australia

Better Care Network, 01 Nov 2019

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

An Exploration of Mothers' Successful Completion of Family‐Centered Residential Substance Use Treatment

Jessica L. Chou, Shannon Cooper‐Sadlo, Rachel M. Diamond, Bertranna A. Muruthi, Sara Beeler‐Stinn - Family Process, 16 Oct 2019

This study explored the construct of mothering children during family‐centered substance use treatment using a transcendental phenomenological approach.

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Parenting Interventions for Mothers With Problematic Substance Use: A Systematic Review of Research and Community Practice

Karen Milligan, Tamara Meixner, Monique Tremblay, Lesley A. Tarasoff, Amelia Usher, Ainsley Smith, Alison Niccols, Karen A. Urbanoski - Child Maltreatment, 14 Oct 2019

The authors of this study systematically compared parenting interventions offered in 12 maternal substance use treatment programs in one Canadian province with those described in the research literature.

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‘Getting our voices out there’: acceptability of a mental health participation programme for young people with out of home care experience in Australia

Jessie Rafeld, Kristen Moeller-Saxone, Sue Cotton, Simon Rice, Katherine Monson, Carol Harvey, Helen Herrman - Health Promotion International, 11 Oct 2019

The Bounce Project is a pilot youth-leadership mental health training programme co-designed with young people who have experienced out-of-home-care (OoHC). In this study, the authors evaluated the Bounce Project from the young people’s perspectives to explore the acceptability, successes and limitations of the training to promote the participant’s mental health and their contribution to system level change.

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Looked after and adopted children: applying the latest science to complex biopsychosocial formulations

Carmen Pinto - Adoption & Fostering, 26 Sep 2019

Looked after and adopted children are among the most vulnerable in our society and it is well established that they present with a higher prevalence of mental health problems than children who live with their birth family. This article presents a case study of a 15-year-old boy whose severe difficulties were understood and formulated in terms of ‘attachment problems’ for many years.

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Country Care Review: Albania

Better Care Network , 25 Sep 2019

This country care review includes the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committees' recommendations on the issue of Family Environment and Alternative Care, and other care relevant issues, are highlighted.