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How Can We Help Our Children Deal with and Recover From Disasters?
There are many types of disasters that people experience in this world. As we have seen just a few weeks ago, a disaster can hit closer to home than we ever imagined it could. The reactions that children have after experiencing any type of disaster, can create great emotional distress. How can we tell if our children are suffering, and how can we help them go on with their lives? This month's article is dedicated to the victims and their families of September 11, 2001, a most tragic day in American history. May you all be forever in our hearts.
Reactions of Children to Disasters
Normal Reactions to Disaster Induced Stress
Most parents recognize when their children's behavior indicates emotional distress. During routine, non-crisis times parents are tuned-in to the
nuances of their children's behavior. Most mothers can tell immediately if their young son or teenage daughter had a bad day at school or a fight
with their best friend. A very common sign indicating distress is the sudden appearance of a very busy child, who just suddenly decides he or
she will watch TV with his or her parents, and is not even particular about what they are watching. For most parents, this is when their antennae
go up and somehow they know it is time to give that extra hug and just be available. Typically, a few words eventually pass between the parent
and child. The parent smiles, the child looks relieved, and as quickly as the child appeared he or she vanishes back into his or her now
somewhat reorganized and normal world. Under normal circumstances in the majority of nurturing families, they play this scene over and over
and without really thinking anything of it. It is just a slice of daily life.
Disasters are not normal or routine and therefore, impose a significant abnormality on our daily routines. Everyone is affected. Typical modes of
interacting with each other are strained. All of us are trying to get a grip on things and as a result focus less on supporting each other. It is within
this context that children experience the aftermath of disasters.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP, 1998) suggests that a child's reaction to a disaster, such as a hurricane,
flood, fire, or earthquake, depends upon how much destruction is experienced during or after the event. The death of family members or friends
is the most traumatic, followed by loss of the family home, school, special pets, and the extent of damage to the community. The degree of
impact on children is also influenced by the destruction they experience second hand through television and other sources of media reports.
Generally, most children recover from the frightening experiences associated with a disaster without professional intervention. Most simply need
time to experience their world as a secure place again and their parents as nurturing caregivers who are also again in charge.
Studies of how children have reacted to catastrophic events are limited. However, in the available work done on this topic there emerges a
consistent pattern of responses and factors that influence the difficulty children may have in returning to their pre-disaster state. Yule and
Canterbury (1994) reviewed a number of studies concerning children exposed to traumatic events. The types of reactions experienced by many
children reported include feeling irritable, alone, and having difficulty talking to their parents. Many experience guilt for not being injured or
losing their homes. Adolescents are prone to bouts of depression and anxiety, while younger children demonstrate regressive behaviors
associated with earlier developmental stages. Many children who have difficulty reconciling their feelings will engage in play involving disaster
themes and repetitive drawings of disaster events. It has also been demonstrated that children as young as two or three can recall events
associated with disasters. The child's level of cognitive development will influence their interpretation of the stressful events. Some studies
reviewed by Yule and Canterbury suggest that the intellectual ability of the child, their sex, age, and family factors influence their recovery. Girls
experience greater stress reactions than boys, bright children recover their pre-disaster functioning in school more rapidly, and families who
have difficulty sharing their feelings experience greater distress. As expected, there also appears to be a direct relationship between the degree
of exposure to frightening events and the difficulty in emotional adjustment and returning to pre-disaster functioning.
Other researchers have attempted to explain what factors influence children's reactions to traumatic or stressful events. In their review of the
emotional effects of disaster, Lewis Aptekar and Judith Boore (1990) report that one's belief as to who or what caused the disaster and the
degree of destruction are major factors influencing children's reactions. These authors have also identified five additional factors that influence
recovery from the traumatic event:
- Child's developmental level
- Child's premorbid mental health
- Community's ability to offer support
- Parents' presence or absence during the event
- Significant adults' reaction
A more recent review by Vogel and Vernberg (1993) also suggests the influence of children's developmental level on their ability to
comprehend traumatic events, their coping repertoire, and their involvement with other groups of people beyond the immediate family.
In a longitudinal study, Vernberg, LaGreca, Silverman, and Prinstein (1996) provided a thoughtful account of how elementary school children
responded to the disastrous impact of Hurricane Andrew in Dade County, Florida. These researchers concluded that many symptoms
experienced by these children could be understood using an integrated conceptual model first discussed by Green et al. (1991). Green et al.
investigated four factors:
- Exposure to traumatic events during and after the disaster
- Pre-existing child characteristics
- Post-disaster recovery environment (social support)
- Coping skills of the child
The model suggested by Vernberg, et al. (1996) increased the number of factors from four to five:
- Exposure to traumatic events during and after the disaster
- Pre-existing demographic characteristics
- Occurrence of major life stressors
- Availability of social support
- Type of coping strategies used to manage disaster-related stress
The primary focus of this study was to ascertain what factors influence the lingering symptoms and subsequent identification of children
experiencing PTSD. The authors conclude that symptoms associated with PTSD could represent normal adaptive reactions and that for many
children the effects of a disaster may still be observed beyond one to two years after the event. In trying to determine what made the various
symptoms persist in these elementary age children, the researchers found the daily hassles of routine life in the weeks and months following the
incident interacted with the severity of the trauma experienced making it difficult to recover. The strains of ongoing life events (e.g., loss of
employment by a parent, divorce, or other stressors) also impact the availability of a supportive environment. Other factors identified by the
authors were the overall loss of essential support from the community and schools given the respective impact of the disaster on these social
systems.
Continue reading this article for more helpful information on "How Can We Help Our Children Deal with and Recover From Disasters?":
Visit the following Internet sites for more information on how to help children deal with and recover from disasters:
The books below deal with children and disasters. Use Amazon.com's secure server to order:
 "A Terrible Thing Happened - A Story for Children Who have Witnessed Violence or Trauma": Ages 4-8. Margaret M. Holmes, Sasha J. Mudlaff. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
"Good Grief: A Constructive Approach to the Problem of Loss": Granger E. Westberg. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
"Gentle Willow: A Story for Children About Dying": Ages 4-8. Joyce C. Ph.D. Mills. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
"Children & Disasters (Series in Trauma and Loss)": Norma S. Gordon, Norman L. Farberow, Carl A. Maida. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
"Children and Trauma: A Guide for Parents and Professionals": Cynthia Monahon. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
"Everything You Need to Know When Someone You Know Has Been Killed (Need to Know Library)": Jay Schleifer. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Copyright © The Center for Mental Health Services. The information on this website is provided as a courtesy to My ParenTime's Family Community visitors, and is for educational purposes only. Reprinted with permission.
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