Coping and Social Support in Children Exposed to Mass Trauma

The goal of this paper was to critically evaluate the literature on children coping with mass trauma published between the years 2011 and 2014 and to emphasize interesting and important findings with the aim of proposing a new comprehensive model for better understanding the process of coping with these events in this unique developmental stage. Using a variety of databases, 26 research papers were selected. The papers were divided into two main categories, natural and manmade disasters. The findings suggest that several areas in this context still lack foundational knowledge and should be further investigated. Thus, it has been suggested that future research should emphasize the developmental stage of the children, the cultural context and atmosphere in which the investigated children grow up and live, and the type of event (acute vs. chronic; natural vs. manmade). A more comprehensive coping model which addresses these omissions and combines main theories is suggested for use in future research as well.