Background: The need to establish an evidence base for early child disaster interventions has been long recognized. Objective: This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the empirical research on early disaster mental health interventions delivered to children within the first 3 months post event. Methods: Characteristics and findings of the…

Trauma is thought to interfere with normal grief by superimposing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. This exploratory pilot study examined the association between traumatic grief and objectively measured physiological reactivity to a trauma interview in 13 children who lost relatives in the Oklahoma City bombing as well as a potential link…

Background: A comprehensive review of the design principles and methodological approaches that have been used to make inferences from the research on disasters in children is needed. Objective: To identify the methodological approaches used to study children's reactions to three recent major disasters--the September 11, 2001, attacks; the…

This study examined deployment effects in children and spouses of National Guard troops using a longitudinal design to assess 18 children (ages 6 to 17 years) and 13 nondeployed spouses before, during, and after deployment. Both self- and parent reports revealed that children of deployed service personnel experienced emotional and behavioral…

Following terrorist events, teachers and nonteaching school personnel are important in helping children recover, yet little is known about their willingness to assist with this. We surveyed 399 employees from a Washington, D.C.-area school district following terror attacks (September 11, 2001, attacks; sniper shootings) about their exposure,…

Focus groups with 23 New York City children examined their reactions to the September 11 terrorist attacks, their parents' reactions, and their expectations about the future. We identified an initial set of six topics; these topics were reviewed and assigned to a final set of thematic categories--understanding the events and motives, emotional…

A number of factors can contribute to youth's reactions to disasters. These factors can include characteristics of the event; the nature of youth's exposure; and individual, family, and social predictors. This article describes both outcomes and predictors in order to prepare professionals who might work with youth in post-disaster situations.…

Despite the increasingly dangerous world where trauma and loss are common, relatively few studies have explored traumatic grief in children. The 1998 American Embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, provided an unfortunate opportunity to examine this topic. This report describes findings in 156 children who knew someone killed in the incident, assessed…

Following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the authors examined emotional distress among youth who were not physically present at the disaster site. This research continued even two years after the bombing as the trial of Timothy McVeigh was beginning. The authors found an association between…