Project Summary

Little is known about how and why children differ in their post-traumatic stress symptom patterns after disasters. Understanding factors that place children at risk for chronic symptoms is necessary for early identification and treatment of children at risk. This project synthesized data across four studies of children following disasters to understand patterns of post-traumatic stress symptom responses and risk factors for these patterns.

Approach

Integrative Data Analysis. This project harmonized data at the individual level to be able to generalize findings across studies of disasters.

Measurement & Metrics

Post-traumatic stress symptoms

Key Findings

  • Children vary in their post-disaster responses.
  • A small minority (10%) of children report chronic post-traumatic stress symptoms following disasters.
  • Many children (34%) are resilient and report limited distress following disasters.

Presentations

Principal Investigator

Project Support

National Institute of Mental Health