Abstract
The authors define disasters, provide statistics about their scope and magnitude, and describe children's and adolescents' typical reactions. In addition, the authors present a conceptual framework for organizing and understanding factors that influence the development and maintenance of disaster-related reactions. This chapter provides an overview of the types of disasters, the primary reactions children display as a consequence of their exposure to disasters, and a general framework for considering the factors that influence the development and maintenance of children's postdisaster reactions. The authors also discuss the main reactions that have been documented in children following disasters and present a model that helps organize and understand children's reactions to disasters. The model incorporates characteristics of the disaster, child, and postdisaster recovery environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)