Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Trauma Exposure and Mental Health Problems among School Children 15 Months Post-Hurricane Katrina

  • Characteristics of Traumatized Children
  • Published:
Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine prevalence, correlates and predictors of mental health in children in New Orleans 15 months post-Hurricane Katrina. Analyses were conducted on 195 children who completed self-reports of hurricane and lifetime trauma exposure, social support, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and depression. Teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Children reported high incidence of PTSD symptoms: 36.9% moderate to severe and 23.6% mild. In multiple regression analyses, gender, social support, and lifetime trauma exposure, but not hurricane exposure, significantly predicted PTSD. Age, social support, and lifetime trauma exposure, but not hurricane exposure, significantly predicted child depressive symptoms. Teachers reported lower levels of problems and no significant predictors of teacher reports other than age and school. PTSD and depression were significant problems for children 15 months post-Hurricane Katrina. Lifetime trauma exposure was the strongest predictor of both PTSD and depression. Effective and accessible treatment is needed for such children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. (2010). Revised practice for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(4), 414–430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bokszczanin, A. (2007). PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents 28 months after a flood: Age and gender differences. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 347–351.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, J. D., Moccia, P., Borus, B. J., & Burns. (1986). Emotional distress in 5th grade children 10 months after a natural disaster. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25, 536–541.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carrion, V. G., Weems, C. F., Ray, R., & Reiss, A. L. (2002). Toward an empirical definition of pediatric PTSD: The phenomenology of PTSD symptoms in youth. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 41(2), 166–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. A., Jaycox, L. H., Mannarino, A. P., Walker, D. W., Langley, A. K., & DuClos, J. (2009). Treating traumatized children after Hurricane Katrina: Project Fleur-de Lis™. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 12, 55–64.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen J. A., & Mannarino A. P. (2004). Treatment of Childhood Traumatic Grief. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33(4), 819–831.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collishaw, S., Goodman, R., Ford, T., Rabe-Hesketh, S., & Pickles, A. (2009). How far are associations between child, family and community factors and child psychopathology informant-specific and informant-general? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(5), 571–580.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., Treadwell, K., Johnson, K., & Feeny, N. C. (2001). The Child PTSD Symptom Scale: A preliminary examination of its psychometric properties. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30(3), 376–384.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freedy, J. R., Resnick, H. S., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (1992). A conceptual framework for evaluating disaster impact: Implications for clinical intervention. In L. S. Austin (Ed.), Clinical response to trauma in the community. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrison, C. Z., Bryant, E. S., Addy, C. L., Spurrier, P. G., Freedy, J. R., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in adolescents after Hurricane Andrew. Journal of American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(9), 1193–1201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrison, C. Z., Weinrich, M. W., Hardin, S. B., Weinrich, S., & Wang, L. (1993). Post-traumatic stress disorder in adolescents after a hurricane. American Journal of Epidemiology, 138(7), 522–530.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Giaconia, R. M., Reinherz, H. Z., Silverman, A. B., & Bilge, P. (1995). Traumas and posttraumatic stress disorder in a community population of older adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34(10), 1369–1380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giannopoulou, I., Strouthos, M., Smith, P., Dikaiakou, A., Galanopoulou, V., & Yule, W. (2006). Post-traumatic stress reactions of children and adolescents exposed to the Athens 1999 earthquake. European Psychiatry, 21, 160–166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goenjian, A. K., Pynoos R. S., Steinberg, A. M., Najarian, L. M., Asarnow, J. R., Karajan, T., et al. (1995). Psychiatric comorbigidy in children after the 1988 earthquakes in Armenia. American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(9), 1174–1184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 581–586.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, R. (1999). The extended version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire as a guide to child psychiatric caseness and consequent burden. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 791–801.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, R., Meitzer, H., & Bailey, V. (1998). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A pilot study on the validity of the self-report version. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 7, 125–130.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S. (1989). Manual for the Social Support Scale for Children and Adolescents. Denver: University of Denver.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoven, C. W., Duarte, C. S., Lucas, C. P., Wu, P., Mandell, D. J., Goodwin, R. D., et al. (2005). Psychopathology among New York City public school children 6 months after September 11. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 545–551.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaycox, L. H., Cohen, J., Mannarino, A., Langley, A. K., Walker, D., Gegenheimer, K., et al. (2010). Children’s mental health care following Hurricane Katrina: A field trial of trauma-focused psychotherapies. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23, 223–231.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaycox, L. H., Langley, A. K., Stein, B. D., Wong, M., Sharma, P., Scott, M., et al. (2009). Support for students exposed to trauma: A pilot study. School Mental Health, 1(2), 49–60.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall, P. C., Cantwell, D., & Kazdin, A. E. (1989). Depression in children and adolescents: Assessment issues and recommendations. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 13. 109–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs, M. (1981). Rating scales to assess depression in school-aged children. Acta Paedopsychiatra: International Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 46(5–6), 305–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • LaGreca, A. M., & Prinstein, M. J. (2002). Hurricanes and earthquakes: Helping children cope with disasters and terrorism. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • LaGreca, A. M., Silverman, W. K., Vernberg, E. M., & Prinstein, M. J. (1996). Symptoms of posttraumatic stress in children after Hurricane Andrew: A prospective study. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 64(4), 712–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lonigan, C. J., Shannon, M. P., Finch, A. J., Daugherty, T. K., & Taylor, C. M. (1991). Children’s reactions to a natural disaster: Symptom severity and degree of exposure. Advances in Behaviour Research & Therapy, 13(3), 135–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • March, J. S., Amaya-Jackson, L., Terry, R., & Costanzo, P. (1997). Posttraumatic symptomatology in children and adolescents after an industrial fire. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1080–1088.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neuner, F., Schauer, E., Catani, C., Ruf, M., & Elbert, T. (2006). Post-tsunami stress: A study of posttraumatic stress disorder in children living in three severely affected regions in Sri Lanka. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19(3), 339–347.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, F. H. (2006). Disaster research methods: Past progress and future directions. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19(2), 173–184.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Osofsky, J. D., Osofsky, H. J., & Harris, W. W. (2007). Katrina’s Children: Social policy considerations for children in disasters. Social policy report: Giving child and youth development knowledge away, 21(1), 3–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osofsky, H. J., Osofsky, J. D., Kronenberg, M., Brennan, A., & Hansel, T. C. (2009). Post Traumatic Stress symptoms in children after Hurricane Katrina: Predicting the need for mental health services. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 79(2), 212–220.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pfefferbaum, B. (1997). Posttraumatic stress disorder in children: A review of the past 10 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1503–1511.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pine, D. C., & Cohen, J. A. (2002). Trauma in children: Risk and treatment of psychiatric sequelae. Biological Psychiatry, 51, 519–531.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R., Rodriguez, N., Steinberg, A., Stuber, M., & Frederick, C. (1998). The UCLA PTSD Index for DSM-IV. Los Angeles: UCLA Trauma Psychiatry Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R. S., Frederick, C., Nader, K., Arroyo, W., Steinberg, A., Eth, S. et al. (1987). Life threat and posttraumatic stress in school-age children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 1057–1063.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Russoniello, C. V., Skalko, T. K., O’Brien, K., McGhee, S. A., Bingham-Alexander, D., & Beatley, J. (2002). Childhood posttraumatic stress disorder and efforts to cope after Hurricane Floyd. Behavioral Medicine, 28, 61–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, M. P., Lonigan, C. J., Finch, A. J., & Taylor, C. M. (1994). Children exposed to disaster: I. Epidemiology of post-traumatic symptoms and symptom profiles. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 333, 80–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, J., Applegate, B., Tanner, S., Perez, D., Rothe, E., Campo-Bowen, A., & Lahey, B. (1995). Psychological effects of Hurricane Andrew on elementary school population. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 1185–1192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheeringa, M. S. (2005). Disaster Experiences Questionnaire (Unpublished measure). Tulane University, New Orleans, LA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thienkrua, W., Cardozo, B. L., Chakkraband, M. L. S., Guadamuz, T. E., Pengjuntr, W., Tantipiwatanaskul, P., et al. (2006). Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression among children in tsunami-affected areas in Southern Thailand. Journal of the American Medical Association, 296, 549–559.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vernberg, E. M., Silverman, W. K., La Greca, A. M., & Prinstein, M. J. (1996). Prediction of posttraumatic stress symptoms in children after Hurricane Andrew. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105(2), 237–248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Audra K. Langley.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Langley, A.K., Cohen, J.A., Mannarino, A.P. et al. Trauma Exposure and Mental Health Problems among School Children 15 Months Post-Hurricane Katrina. Journ Child Adol Trauma 6, 143–156 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1080/19361521.2013.812171

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19361521.2013.812171

Keywords

Navigation