PTSD IN HEAD START CHILDREN AFTER HURRICANE ANDREW

描述(改编自申请人摘要)：1992年8月23日， 飓风安德鲁袭击了佛罗里达州南部。在财产损失和 对于流离失所的人来说，这场风暴是最严重的自然灾害 在美国历史上。数以万计的人 暴露在风暴的创伤下，无家可归，无家可归 运行正常的公用设施。 此外，与后果相关的次要压力已经 在漫长的时间里给成千上万的家庭带来了巨大的挑战- 定期恢复期。 研究表明，儿童可能会表现出显著的心理 各种创伤后的问题，但相对较少的对照研究 已经在适当的控制组和可靠的 有效措施。对学龄前儿童的研究尤其如此。 重大自然灾害后适龄少数族裔儿童：鲜为人知 关于他们创伤后应激障碍(PTSD)的发生率及其影响因素 影响着它的发展和进程。 本研究的具体目的是：1)确定出生率和 学龄前学龄前儿童及其母亲创伤后应激障碍的调查 暴露在安德鲁飓风中的人，以及2)确定因素 在风暴过后的12个月里，影响了儿童的创伤后应激障碍， 包括性别、行为和情感功能、父母和 家庭功能和种族/文化因素。 受试者将是250名学龄前儿童及其母亲(一半 是西班牙裔，一半是非裔美国人) 县先导计划；他们将从 受灾地区和一个未受影响的地点，并将对它们进行研究 两次(飓风过后6个月和12个月)。方法论 包括：对母亲进行标准化的结构化访谈，内容涉及 人口统计变量、飓风暴露和儿童功能； 录制的儿童创伤后应激障碍的临床访谈和评分；母体 和教师使用标准化的量表对儿童行为进行评级；以及 母亲们填写的关于她们自己的感受的问卷 抑郁、创伤后应激障碍症状、乐观和对家庭的看法 功能正常。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): On August 23, l992, Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida. In terms of property damage and displaced persons, this storm was the most significant natural disaster in the history of the United States. Tens of thousands of people were exposed to the trauma of the storm and were left homeless and without functioning utilities. Furthermore, the secondary stress associated with the aftermath has created significant challenges for thousands of families during a long- term recovery period. Studies indicate that children may display significant psychological problems following various trauma, but relatively few controlled studies have been conducted with appropriate control groups and reliable and valid measures. This is especially the case for studies of pre-school age minority children following major natural disasters: Little is known about their rate of post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and factors affecting its development and course. The Specific Aims of this research are: 1) to determine the rate and course of PTSD among pre-school Head Start children and their mothers who were exposed to Hurricane Andrew, and 2) to identify factors affecting children's PTSD over the 12-month period following the storm, including gender, behavioral and emotional functioning, parental and family functioning, and ethnic/cultural factors. The subjects will be 250 pre-school age children and their mothers (half are Hispanic and half are African-American) who are enrolled in the Date County Head Start Program; they will be recruited from two sites in the devastated area and from one unaffected site, and they will be studied on two occasions (6 and 12 months post-hurricane). The methodology includes: standardized structured interviews of the mothers concerning demographic variables, hurricane exposure, and child functioning; videotaped clinical interviews and ratings of PTSD in children; maternal and teacher ratings of child behavior using standardized scales; and questionnaires completed by mothers about their own feelings of depression, PTSD symptoms, optimism, and perceptions about family functioning.