SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
Posttraumatic Phenomena in a Longitudinal Study of Children Following a Natural Disaster

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This longitudinal study examined the prevalence of posttraumatic phenomena and how they relate to symptomatic and behavioral disorders in a population of schoolchildren exposed to an Australian bushfire disaster. The prevalence of these phenomena did not change over an 18-month period, suggesting that they were markers of significant developmental trauma. The mothers' responses to the disaster were better predictors of the presence of posttraumatic phenomena in children than the children's direct exposure to the disaster. Both the experience of intrusive memories by the mothers and a changed pattern of parenting seemed to account for this relationship.

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  • Cited by (0)

    The assistance of V. Blumbergs, S. Policansky, M. Higgins, H. Schinkel. Dr. C. M. McFarlane, and Dr. C. Irwin, and the cooperation of the headmasters, teachers, and parents of the schools studied, is gratefully acknowledged. This project was partially supported by the Flinders Medical Centre Research Foundation and the Channel 10 Medical Research Foundation.

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