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Children, Adolescents and Nuclear War Anxiety
Author(s) -
VALENTE SHARON MCBRIDE
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.331
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1744-6171
pISSN - 1073-6077
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6171.1988.tb00226.x
Subject(s) - worry , sadness , anxiety , feeling , psychology , nuclear warfare , clinical psychology , nuclear weapon , developmental psychology , psychiatry , anger , social psychology , political science , law
Researchers have reported that 45–50% of American and European youth aged 10‐19 worry about the negative impact of nuclear war on their lives. For some, the fear of nuclear war was associated with troubling feelings of sadness, powerlessness, and rage. Fearing they have no future, many teens rated fear of nuclear war as their second greatest worry. However, research has not identified those children or adolescents who are at high risk for nuclear anxiety (NA) or the impact of NA and developmental problems. Young Americans, who do not mention nuclear anxiety unless asked about it, were less optimistic and less knowledgeable about nuclear war than Soviet youth. Theory, implications for assessment, interventions, and research related to NA are examined.