Investigating Psychosocial Adjustment of Former Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone and Uganda

This paper describes the methodology employed in two studies into the psychosocial outcomes of former child soldiers: in Sierra Leone, between May 2000 and September 2000; and in Northern Uganda between July and December 2001. The aim of the two studies was to construct instruments with meaningful and relevant indicators of psychosocial adjustment for use with former child soldiers. The involvement of local children, especially former child soldiers and people who knew them well, provided not only relevant examples of adjustment, but also the idiom that allowed the research participants to see their own experience reflected in the questions asked of them.