Maintain a Healthy State of Mind: Parents and Caregivers (Part 2)
Common Reactions
In most children, these common reactions will fade over time. Children who were directly exposed to a disaster can become upset again, and behavior related to the event may return if they see or hear reminders of what happened. If children continue to be very upset or if their reactions hurt their schoolwork or relationships, then parents may want to talk to a professional or have their children talk to a provider who specializes in children's needs.
Infants to Six-Year-Olds
Infants may become cranky. They may cry more than usual or want to be held and cuddled more. Preschool and kindergarten children may feel helpless, powerless, and frightened about being separated from their parent or caregiver. They may return to bedwetting and have a hard time sleeping.
Seven-Year-Olds to Ten-Year-Olds
Older children who know about loss may feel sad, mad, or afraid the event will happen again. Peers may share false information that parents or caregivers will then need to correct. They may focus on details of the event and want to talk about it all the time. This may disrupt their concentration and affect how well they do in school.
Preteens and Teenagers
Some preteens and teenagers respond with risky behaviors. This could include reckless driving, alcohol use, or drug use. Others may become afraid to leave home. They may cut way back on how much they hang out with their friends. They can feel overwhelmed by their intense emotions and yet be unable to talk about them. Those emotions may lead to increased friction, arguing, and even fighting with siblings, parents, caregivers, or other adults.
Children With Special Needs
Children who are ventilator-dependent or are confined to a wheelchair or bed may have even more pronounced reactions to threatened or actual terrorism. The same is true for youth with other physical or mental limitations. They might display feelings like distress, worry, or anger, because they have less control over how they get around than other people. They may need extra verbal reassurance or more explanations, hugs, comfort, and other positive physical contact.
Not all children respond these ways. Some might have more severe, longer lasting reactions that are influenced by the following factors:
- Direct exposure to the disaster—Whether they were evacuated or saw people injured or dying would affect them, as would being injured themselves or feeling their own lives were threatened.
- Loss— the death or major injury of a family member, close friend or pet
- Ongoing stress from the effects of disaster—This includes being away from home, losing contact with friends and neighbors, and losing things that were important to them, like a favorite toy or access to a playground. Their lives are disrupted when they no longer have a usual meeting place or their routines and living conditions change.
- A prior experience of trauma—Including having lived through or observed abuse or a major disaster
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Updated 2014, February 10). Maintain a healthy state of mind: Parents and caregivers. Retrieved May 31, 2015, from http://emergency.cdc.gov