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Impact of War on American Adolescents: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.
Author(s) -
Hardin Sally Brosz,
Hayes Eileen,
Cheever Kerry H.,
Addy Cheryl
Publication year - 2003
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.1744-6171.2003.tb00351.x
Subject(s) - feeling , persian , victory , psychology , gulf war , spanish civil war , navy , sample (material) , distress , clinical psychology , demography , psychiatry , medicine , social psychology , political science , history , ancient history , law , sociology , politics , theology , philosophy , chemistry , chromatography
PROBLEM The impact of the Persian Gulf war on adolescents in Columbia, Charleston, and Sumter, SC. METHODS Four semiannual surveys measured adolescents' exposure to and evaluations of the Persian Gulf war, and the relationship between this exposure and mental distress. FINDINGS Of the sample, 814 (65.9%) reported being distressed by the war and 849 (69%) reported feeling better after the war ended. More than half the sample had a friend or relative sent to the war (n = 725, 58.8%), and of these, 458 were African American. Nine percent (n = 111) of the sample had a mother, father, or both a mother and a father in the war. CONCLUSIONS There was a positive correlation between adolescents' ratings on the Negative Impact of War Scores and Mental Distress Scores despite the easy victory and public support for the war in the United States. Females and African Americans viewed the war more negatively than did Caucasian males.