Preschool children facing mass trauma: Disasters, war and terrorism

Abstract

Preschool children are exposed to an increasingly wide variety of disasters and terrorist incidents that may have severe effects on their mental health and development. The goal of this paper is to review the research literature regarding the needs of preschoolers in the context of disasters and terrorism with the aim of understanding: a) the consequences of such events for young children and the main moderating variables influencing the event-consequence association. b) the existing methods for assessment, prevention and intervention to provide recommendations and point out required research and development. We differentiate between screening tools that provide initial evaluation and assessment tools for diagnosing preschooler children's' pathology and review possible interventions that address the preschool child's needs before, during and after the incident itself. We discuss the challenges in performing research following disaster and terrorism and the lack of dissemination and research of prevention programs and mass interventions for preschoolers. Finally, we emphasize the need for research and intervention programs aimed at dealing with the impact of terrorism and armed conflict on children's worldview.