CONSEQUENCES OF DISASTER ON CHILDREN--RESIDENTIAL FIRE

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant' abstract): The primary purpose of the proposed study is to examine the extent and course of childrens', adolescents', and their parents' psychological distress resulting from an urban disaster, a residential fire. Not only will childrens' and adolescents' individual characteristics be examined, their functioning relative to their parents and home environment will be examined as well. The extent to which parents' reactions to the fire and the home environment affect their offspring's ability to cope with and recover from the sudden trauma will be obtained. Although parents, children, and adolescents will be examined, the primary target population of this study is children. Within the context of a controlled, longitudinal, cross-section design, 150 families with children 8 to 17 years of age who have experienced a residential fire will be compared to 150 control families from the same community. The control group will allow the investigators to determine the extent to which levels of psychological distress and later potential psychopathology are attributed to the traumatic event. This goal will be accomplished through the use of a multimodal strategy using standardized assessment instruments. A theoretical model will be used (a developmental model for processing traumatic events) to guide the research. The results of this project will add to the sparse literature concerning children/adolescents and fire-related disasters and will provide heuristic implications for future fruitful research. It is hoped that the integration and comparison of these findings with the existing disaster literature will enhance knowledge in this area.