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Children in Disasters

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Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics

Introduction

When disasters strike, children are one of the most vulnerable populations affected. The impact of a disaster on an individual child depends on a number of interrelated factors: the nature of the disaster itself including the extent and breadth of damage, loss, and disruption experienced by the child; the socio-emotional impact of the event on the child and family; the disruption of the child’s extended support system; and the child’s skills in coping with stressful experiences as well as the ability of the family and community to provide appropriate support to promote the child’s recovery. In addition to the initial impact of the disaster, the effect on children is also exacerbated by secondary stressors and losses that result from the event and any delays in the recovery of the community and family. This chapter will begin by briefly reviewing a few selected findings from preclinical and clinical research on the impact of stress during critical periods of brain...

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Web-Sites

  • www.aap.org/disasters/adjustment.cfm Website maintained by the American Academy of Pediatrics that includes a range of resources related to mental health needs of children and families in the aftermath of a disaster that can be freely downloaded by healthcare providers, families, and others

  • www.cincinnatichildrens.org/school-crisis Website maintained by the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement that includes a range of resources for school personnel and parents of how to support children dealing with loss and crisis that can be freely downloaded by school personnel, families, and others

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, MLC 4002, 3333 Burnet Avenue, 45229-3039, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    David J. Schonfeld MD, FAAP & Robin H. Gurwitch PhD

Authors
  1. David J. Schonfeld MD, FAAP
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  2. Robin H. Gurwitch PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David J. Schonfeld MD, FAAP .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

    Abdelaziz Y. Elzouki (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. National Center of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (NCAAI), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Harb A. Harfi (Director) (Director)

  3. Consultant Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Islamic Hospital, Amman, Jordan

    Hisham M. Nazer

  4. Seattle Children's Hospital University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    F. Bruder Stapleton (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics) (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics)

  5. Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Woman and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    William Oh (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  6. University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Richard J. Whitley (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Schonfeld, D.J., Gurwitch, R.H. (2012). Children in Disasters. In: Elzouki, A.Y., Harfi, H.A., Nazer, H.M., Stapleton, F.B., Oh, W., Whitley, R.J. (eds) Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_50

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_50

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02201-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02202-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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