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Disasters, Victimization, and Children’s Mental Health
Author(s) -
BeckerBlease Kathryn A.,
Turner Heather A.,
Finkelhor David
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01453.x
Subject(s) - mental health , psychology , depression (economics) , aggression , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , injury prevention , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , psychiatry , clinical psychology , medical emergency , medicine , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
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.