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    Children’s Postdisaster Trajectories of PTS Symptoms: Predicting Chronic Distress

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    Vernberg_2013.pdf (385.9Kb)
    Issue Date
    2013-08-01
    Author
    La Greca, Annette M.
    Lai, Betty S.
    Llabre, Maria M.
    Silverman, Wendy K.
    Vernberg, Eric M.
    Prinstein, Mitchell J.
    Publisher
    Springer Verlag
    Type
    Article
    Article Version
    Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
    Rights
    © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
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    Abstract
    BACKGROUND: There are no studies of the distinct trajectories of children’s psychological distress over the first year after a destructive natural disaster and the determinants of these trajectories. OBJECTIVE: We examined these issues using an existing dataset of children exposed to Hurricane Andrew, one of the most devastating natural disasters in US history. METHODS: At 3-months postdisaster, 568 children (55 % girls; grades 3–5) residing in areas most directly affected by the hurricane completed measures of hurricane exposure and stressors, social support, coping, and general anxiety. Children also reported major life events occurring since the hurricane (at 7-months) and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms at 3-, 7-, and 10-months postdisaster. RESULTS: Latent growth mixture modeling identified three trajectories of PTS reactions: resilient (37 %), recovering (43 %), and chronic distress (20 %). Predictors of the trajectories were examined. Odds ratios indicated that, compared to the resilient trajectory, girls were more likely to be in the recovering and chronically distressed trajectories, as were children reporting higher anxiety and greater use of coping strategies that reflected poor emotion regulation. Compared to the recovering trajectory, children in the chronically distressed trajectory had greater odds of reporting high anxiety, less social support, more intervening life events, and greater use of poor emotion regulation strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Hurricane exposure may be less effective in identifying children who develop chronic postdisaster distress than other child (anxiety, coping) and contextual variables (social support, life events). Effective screening after disasters is critical for identifying youth most in need of limited clinical resources.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/24396
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-013-9206-1
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    • Psychology Scholarly Works [286]
    Citation
    La Greca, A. M., Lai, B. S., Llabre, M. M., Silverman, W. K., Vernberg, E. M., & Prinstein, M. J. (2013). Children’s Postdisaster Trajectories of PTS Symptoms: Predicting Chronic Distress. Child & Youth Care Forum, 42(4), 351–369. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-013-9206-1

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    Lawrence, KS 66045
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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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