Humanitarian Intervention reduces 'stress hormone' in war-affected youth

(Yale University) A new study shows that a humanitarian program to improve the mental health of adolescents affected by the Syrian war has a biological benefit: For participants in the program, it decreased levels of cortisol (a hormone associated with stress) by a third. It is the first study to use an objective biomarker to assess the impact of a mental-health intervention for war-affected youth.