Artwork by a former child soldier in Sierra Leone.
近二十年来，残酷的内战使他们成为俘虏和战斗人员, 塞拉利昂的许多前儿童兵在努力克服童年创伤的过程中，逐渐获得了家庭和社区更多的接受, 电子游戏软件电子游戏正规平台人员领导的一个团队对他们的成年生活进行了全面的新报告.
由于他们的经历，前儿童兵经历了心理健康问题, 但是，获得家庭和社区的接纳塑造了这些男女的生活，并显示出帮助他们继续改善情感和社会的希望, according to the groundbreaking study, published in the online edition of Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
可能需要更加注重以家庭和社区为基础的办法，帮助前儿童兵重新融入社会, according to the co-authors, a group of professors and researchers from Boston College, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Child Trends of Bethesda, Md.
电子游戏软件社会工作学院塞勒姆教授特蕾莎·贝当古是该报告的主要作者.
“Not only were child soldiers exposed to horrors during the war, 但当她们回到自己的家庭和社区时，耻辱是需要克服的最大障碍之一. 我们开始电子游戏正规平台战后环境对这些已经脆弱的年轻人的影响。 主要作者，电子游戏软件社会工作学院塞勒姆全球实践教授特里萨·贝当古, one of the project’s founding researchers.
During the 11-year civil war, several warring factions abducted children and forced their involvement in armed groups. An estimated 15,000 to 22,000 boys and girls of all ages were subject to repeat sexual violence, forced use of alcohol and drugs, hard physical labor, and acts of violence until the war ended in 2002.
受战争影响青年纵向电子游戏正规平台从2002年开始，并在2016-2017年期间定期采访了500名前儿童兵, the latest survey of these individuals.
他们在敌对军阀控制下的残酷生活统计数据让人想起塞拉利昂冲突的可怕本质. The average age of the respondents is now 28. 超过四分之一的人报告说，他们在应征入伍时杀死或伤害过别人. 近一半的受访女性和5%的受访男性称曾被强奸. Thirty-two percent reported the death of a parent.
“塞拉利昂的儿童兵经历了难以理解的暴力和损失,电子游戏正规平台报告的合著者、尤尼斯·肯尼迪·施莱弗国家儿童健康与人类发展电子游戏正规平台所的斯蒂芬·吉尔曼说.
During the 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone, several warring factions abducted children and forced their involvement in armed groups. The scenes above are depictions by a former child soldier.
Nearly half the respondents detailed symptoms of anxiety and depression, with 28 percent suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the recent report, 题为“塞拉利昂儿童兵的耻辱和接受:成人心理健康和社会功能的前瞻性纵向电子游戏正规平台”.”
对受访者的生活进行更深入的调查-特别是他们所遭受的耻辱以及家庭和社区的接受程度-导致了三组分类:
• The Socially Protected group, nearly two-thirds of the respondents, 据报道，他们并没有因为参与战争而受到严重的侮辱，他们的家庭和社区对他们的接受程度很高. This group reported largely that they had lower levels of exposure to wartime violence.
•改善社会融合小组包括在2002年报告有高度污名化和低接受率的受访者. This group, largely female and more likely to have been raped, 自那以来，是否有报道称耻辱有所减少，家庭和社区对艾滋病的接受程度有所提高.
•社会弱势群体————大约占答复者的10%————报告了不良的心理健康结果，自2002年以来只有轻微改善, when they were highly stigmatized and had low family and community acceptance. This group is largely male, 在战斗部队中度过的时间更长，在战争中更有可能杀死或伤害他人.
Those in the Improving Social Integration group made gains, though they reported problems such as getting in trouble with local police. However, 社会弱势群体的成员经历高度焦虑和抑郁的可能性大约是社会保护群体的两倍. 他们自杀未遂的可能性是常人的三倍，与警察发生冲突的可能性是常人的四倍.
作者的结论是，努力解决家庭和社区关系，特别关注改善社会支持和减少耻辱，仍然是帮助前儿童兵适应冲突后生活的干预措施的关键因素.
“年轻人在家庭和社区中建立的关系具有治愈的力量,” said Betancourt, who directs the Research Program on Children and Adversity at BC. “这些最新的发现表明，对家庭和社区关系的关注应该与对过去创伤性事件的关注一样多. 减轻前儿童兵心理健康问题和改善其生活结果的努力需要更加注重家庭和社区关系.”
Participants in the study have been interviewed four times – in 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2016 to 2017 – about their involvement with armed groups, exposure to violence in the war, and about their family and community relationships after the war. 采访者还询问了在多个时间点评估他们的心理健康状况和心理调整的问题.
“Conducting a study like this over so many years in Sierra Leone is a real challenge,” said co-author and Research Program on Children and Adversity statistician Robert T. Brennan. “Addresses are approximate, birthdays, even ages, are often unknown, and natural disasters displace whole communities. We even had to postpone data collection due to the Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2015.”
“因为这项电子游戏正规平台追踪了一群前儿童兵，其中一些年仅10岁，直到成年, 它肯定会成为电子游戏正规平台武装团体剥削儿童问题的一个里程碑,” said Boston College School of Social Work Dean Gautam N. Yadama.
Ed Hayward | University Communications