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Anticipatory stress in children and adolescents
L Kiser1, J Heston, S Hickerson
1Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Tennessee, Memphis 38105.
Objective:
Circumstances surrounding the New Madrid earthquake prediction on Dec. 3, 1990, offered a unique opportunity to study the effects of a disaster warning stage on children and adolescents.
Method:
An initial structured interview was administered to 553 third- and 10th-grade students before December 3, with follow-up interviews conducted 6-8 weeks later.
Results:
This study documents the existence of a mild but prevalent PTSD-like reaction that arose from exposure to a prediction of disaster.
Conclusions:
Further study of anticipatory stress reactions is needed to provide insights into the development of methods for providing support to children during disaster warnings.