Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 About EASE
Mental health and psychosocial problems are common among young people worldwide. Children and adolescents living in settings exposed to chronic adversity (e.g. poverty, community violence, humanitarian emergencies) are even more vulnerable to experiencing such problems, usually without access to evidence-based care.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed this brief, transdiagnostic psychological intervention to help young people who are affected by internalizing problems (for example by symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress). The intervention is called Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (referred to as EASE throughout the manual). Four strategies or skills were chosen (identifying feelings, stress management, behavioural activation and problem solving) as these are the most common strategies included in evidence-based treatments for young people with internalizing problems.
EASE can be used in a wide range of settings. Ideally, it should be connected with services that are already working with young adolescents (e.g. in schools or other learning centres) or that operate in young adolescent-friendly spaces (e.g. youth clubs), so that referral pathways are already established. The intervention also aims to align with established standards for child protection in humanitarian settings.
EASE comprises seven group sessions for young adolescents and three group sessions for the adolescents’ caregivers. It has been designed to be delivered by non-specialist providers (called “helpers” in this manual) who complete EASE training and are supervised when delivering EASE.
EASE best coincides with services that the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) describes as focused non-specialized supports (layer 3). Although EASE is developed specifically for adolescents affected by situational adversity, it can also be used with adolescents in other contexts where situational adversity is not a primary driver of distress.
EASE has been found to be safe and effective in reducing internalizing problems in adolescents aged 10–15 years who are experiencing psychological distress and adversity. It has been tested in two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in community settings for Syrian refugees in Jordan, and in public schools of a rural sub-district of Pakistan.
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