The Tapping Evidence Base
PTSD & Trauma · Multiple Conditions

Psychosocial interventions for children and adolescents after man-made and natural disasters: a meta-analysis and systematic review

Brown, R.C., Witt, A., Fegert, J.M., Keller, F., Rassenhofer, M., Plener, P.L. · Psychological Medicine · 2017

Meta-analysis📚 36 studies pooled⚖️ vs. varied control conditions across included studiesModerate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 Germany
In plain English. This meta-analysis pooled 36 studies of trauma treatments for children after disasters, including Thought Field Therapy among several methods (mainly CBT, EMDR, and classroom interventions). Overall, treatments produced good improvement compared to before treatment and moderate improvement compared to control groups, but studies varied a lot in quality and design, so the authors call for more rigorous future studies.

What they found

36
studies pooled and re-analyzed

Across 36 studies, psychosocial treatments for children and adolescents after disasters showed high effect sizes in pre-post comparisons (g=1.34) and medium effect sizes versus control (g=0.43); CBT, EMDR, KIDNET, and classroom-based interventions performed similarly. TFT was among the interventions reviewed.

How the study worked

Who took partchildren and adolescents after natural or man-made disasters
What they didThis meta-analysis statistically pooled the results of many earlier studies to estimate an overall effect.
Compared withvaried control conditions across included studies
Measured withpost-traumatic stress symptom measures (varied)

💡 Where this could help

If tapping-style approaches like TFT keep holding up in this kind of company, picture aid workers arriving after an earthquake or in a refugee camp teaching frightened children a technique in a single session that the children, or their caregivers, can then keep using on their own long after the aid workers move on to the next camp, no ongoing clinical involvement required. That could matter where trained trauma therapists are scarce and children need help fast.

🔬 What to study next

TFT is only one ingredient among many in this broad disaster-response literature, so the useful next step is isolating it to get its own effect size rather than one folded into CBT, EMDR, and classroom interventions combined. Testing scaled deployment models — aid workers training caregivers who then sustain the practice long after the team moves to the next camp — alongside objective child stress markers like cortisol or sleep, rather than symptom scales alone, would also make the case sharper.

The full record

DesignMeta-analysis
Participants36 studies pooled
Populationchildren and adolescents after natural or man-made disasters
Comparison groupvaried control conditions across included studies
Outcome measurespost-traumatic stress symptom measures (varied)
JournalPsychological Medicine
Year2017
CountryGermany
LanguageEnglish
MethodThought Field Therapy (related tapping method)
Publication typeReview or meta-analysis
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source
Verification note. Abstract confirms verbatim: 36 studies identified via MEDLINE/EMBASE/PsycINFO, Hedges' g = 1.34 (pre-post) and g = 0.43 (vs. control); CBT, EMDR, KIDNET, and classroom-based interventions were the treatments investigated by at least two studies each, showing similar effect sizes. The introduction explicitly lists 'thought field therapy' among the 'other treatment approaches... evaluated in fewer studies,' confirming TFT's inclusion as one of the reviewed interventions. All record figures (n_studies=36, both Hedges' g values) now independently confirmed from the primary source rather than a secondary citation.

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Cite this study

APA

Brown, R.C., Witt, A., Fegert, J.M., Keller, F., Rassenhofer, M., & Plener, P.L. (2017). Psychosocial interventions for children and adolescents after man-made and natural disasters: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Psychological Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291717000496

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on PTSD & Trauma

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE PTSD & Trauma 36 studies pooled WHAT THEY FOUND Across 36 studies, psychosocial treatmentsfor children and adolescents after disastersshowed high effect sizes in… Meta-analysis · 36 studies Brown · 2017 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com