Vulnerability to crisis in newly arrived refugee youth is common as they try to come to terms with past traumatic experiences and acculturate to the new country in which they have settled. This study examined the effects of a short-term music therapy program on the changes to the Behaviour Symptom Index (BSI, Reynolds and Kamphus, 1998) of 31 new refugee youths attending an English language reception centre in Brisbane. A cross-over design with two five-week intervention periods was employed with group music therapy sessions conducted one-two times per week. Results indicate that changes to BSI scores approached significance indicating trends that music therapy affected a positive change on generalised behaviour. Findings are discussed with reference to stabilizing and preventing crises with this population.
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