The effect of cognitive-behavioral stress management on symptoms of grief and post-traumatic stress disorder among Afghani migrant bereaved adolescent girls

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural stress management method on grief and PTSD symptoms among bereaved Afghani adolescent migrant girls living in Qom province.

Methods: the research design was a semi-experimental one with pretest-posttest control group format. The sample included all 12-18 year-old female bereaved Afghani adolescent under the supervision of Imam Mohammad-e-Bagher Charity Institute in Qom city in 2011-12 who were assessed via the scale of the children’s accident effect (GRIES-8) and the children’s grief questionnaire and their scores on the questionnaires were considered as the baseline. Those who got highest scores were selected as the study subjects and they were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups (n1= n2 =8). The experimental group received 10 sessions of therapeutic interventions. The received information from the groups was analyzed through SPSS-16 software.

Results: The results showed a significant difference between experimental and control groups regarding the scores of grief and total scores of PTSD as well as avoidance factors (P<0.05). The degree of therapeutic interventions on avoidance and the total score variables were %65, %77 respectively and the statistical power were %54 and %78 respectively. Regarding the grief variable the degree of therapeutic interventions was %66 and the statistical power was %56.

Conclusion: Cognitive-Behavioural Stress Management Therapy is effective and it can be applied in therapy centres in order to decrease the grief symptoms and stress disorder after the accident.