[Psychological effects of military low altitude flight practice on children]

In a 2-step epidemiological study child psychiatric disorders, psychophysiological reactions and psychosocial stressors of 376 children aged 4 to 16 were recorded in two regions of Westphalia (West-Germany) with different frequencies of military low-level flights. No essential impairment of the children's health was found. However, below a clinical level we noticed significantly higher anxiety syndromescores (and to some extent of depression syndromescores) and a tendency towards higher psychophysiological arousal in the high-noise area along with no differences in psychosocial stressors. Implications of these results and aspects of child-psychiatric assessment instruments' use are discussed.