Child Trauma Research Paper

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Introduction Children of all ages experience all types of trauma before, during, and after a natural disaster. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will be on children between the ages of (5 -18). The trauma they may experience are Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and a whole range of other types of stressors. Natural disasters are hurricanes, tornados, floods and fires, and earthquakes. The focus of this paper will be limited to disasters that have occurred in the continental United States. Many of these disasters can cause serious harm, injuries and even death to people who have the misfortune of being in the path of these disasters. Some are so severe they can destroy a home, entire neighborhoods, …show more content…
One study done after Hurricane Katrina revealed that children were exposed to new traumas after the natural disaster. Some of these traumas were due to community violence during evacuation is well as overcrowding and difficult living situations as a result of evacuation.( cite) An example of a difficult living situation during evacuation of Hurricane Katrina is that children were not only exposed to the disaster itself but had to sleep on the interstate with thousands of strangers. Some of these children were separated from their loved ones and were on their own at the mercy of strangers for several nights. They never knew where food, water, or blankets would come from, or if any help would ever come to them. These exposures are considered secondary traumas caused in part by the disaster but with a different meaning in different contexts for children. (Cohen, …show more content…
In other words if they were supported by classmates and had support from parents they experienced lower levels of long-term posttraumatic symptoms. The amount of time that passed after the hurricane until the symptoms were measured were between 30 and 34 months on average. 70% of the children showed moderate to severe levels of symptoms. 156 students from Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, and suburban New Orleans school districts were surveyed. To measure the posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and the severity of the symptoms three questionnaires were administered. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index for Children (24) is a 20 item self-report questionnaire. The second one was the Hurricane Related Traumatic Questionnaire – HURTE (6) was a 23 item self-report. The third was called the Life Events Checklist – LEC (28) this is a 33 item questionnaire that measured the major life events after the hurricane (Jaycox,

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