A cognitive developmental approach to understanding how children cope with disasters
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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
1Clayton College and State University, Morrow, GA, USA. catherinedeering@mail.clayton.edu
Topic:
This paper applies cognitive developmental theory to explain how preschoolers, school-age children, and adolescents process and respond to disasters.
Purpose:
To help clinicians understand the disaster experience from a child's point of view, recognize age-specific reactions, identify symptoms that may signal coping difficulties, and plan effective interventions.
Sources:
Case examples from the author's work with flood victims illustrate typical reactions for children (preschool to adolescents) within a family context, along with developmentally appropriate interventions.
Conclusions:
Children affected by disasters need nursing interventions geared toward their particular developmental level and sensitive to their perception of the disaster.
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