Disasters, victimization, and children's mental health.

Abstract

Abstract

In a representative sample of 2,030 U.S. children aged 2-17, 13.9% report lifetime exposure to disaster, and 4.1% report experiencing a disaster in the past year. Disaster exposure was associated with some forms of victimization and adversity. Victimization was associated with depression among 2- to 9-year-old disaster survivors, and with depression and aggression among 10- to 17-year-old disaster survivors. Children exposed to either victimization only or both disaster and victimization had worse mental health compared to those who experienced neither. More research into the prevalence and effects of disasters and other stressful events among children is needed to better understand the interactive risks for and effects of multiple forms of trauma.

Department

Sociology

Publication Date

7-2010

Journal Title

Child Development

Publisher

Wiley

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01453.x

Document Type

Article

Rights

© 2010, Copyright the Author(s). Journal Compilation © 2010, Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

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