According to a new study, disasters have a direct impact on the mental health of children who have been a victim, resulting in anxiety, depression and aggression, says a report in Science Daily.
"We have known for a long time that children who experience disasters have emotional and behavioral problems that seem to be related to the disaster. This study makes it clear that, for some children, those problems may also be related to other stress events in their lives," said lead author Kathryn Becker-Blease, a child development psychologist with Oregon State University.
Researchers were also able to differentiate among the type of disasters which impacted the most. Children who were exposed to disaster over a period of time were highly impacted than the ones who experienced a disaster once.
The study conducted by Becker-Blease and colleagues at the University of New Hampshire included 2,030 children aged from 2 - 17 years old. The study shows 4.1 percent of children had experienced a disaster in the past year and only two out of 70 children got counseling help for mental health issues; 13.9 percent of the children were exposed to several disasters such as home fires or earth quakes, the study said, according to a report in Science Daily.
"It is a good time to screen children, to put them in contact with people who can help them because issues such as sexual abuse or neglect are still incredibly stigmatized," Becker-Blease said, according to the report in Science Daily. "So a disaster like a fire or flood can put these children in contact with social services that can then identify other issues beyond the immediate trauma.
"After a disaster, we tell parents to remain calm, to resume a routine, and to assure children that adults will keep them safe. In reality, not all families provide calm, safe places with predicable routines. This study shows that children in those families are at higher risk for emotional and behavioral problems. We should be thinking about ways to help those families, while recognizing that most families cope with disasters well with less support," she continued.
Bob Porter, a retired licensed clinical social worker, who currently serves at a Disaster Mental Health responder for the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross, identify the type of psychological support one might need after being a victim of a disaster and hence provide extended support.
"One of the things we try to prepare disaster mental health and crisis responders for is that under the stress of a disaster, people can experience a wide range of reactions and behavior," he said, in a report published by Science Daily. "We advise them to be aware that some of the reactions they are seeing in survivors may be related to other stressors and underlying issues, possibly even traumas, that children and other family members have experienced prior to the current event happening."
