Training Teachers to Build Resilience in Children in the Aftermath of War: A Cluster Randomized Trial

Background There is growing interest in school-based interventions for building resilience in children facing trauma and adversity. Recent studies focus on teacher training as an effective way to enhance resilience in their students, and emphasize the need for additional evidence-based practice. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term resilience-building teacher intervention on reducing post-traumatic distress in students in the context of exposure to recurrent rocket attacks in Israel. Methods A quasi-experimental, cluster randomized design employing intervention and wait-list control groups was implemented with students from grades four-six (N = 563) in four schools in Acre in the aftermath of the Second Lebanon War. We assessed the students’ trauma exposure, posttraumatic symptoms and anxiety before and after the intervention or the wait-list condition. Results There was a significantly ( p