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Child Disaster Mental Health Interventions: Therapy Components

Part of: Prehospital and Disaster Medicine Counterterrorism Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2014

Betty Pfefferbaum ,
Jennifer L. Sweeton ,
Pascal Nitiéma ,
Mary A. Noffsinger ,
Vandana Varma ,
Summer D. Nelson  and
Elana Newman
Betty Pfefferbaum*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA
Jennifer L. Sweeton
Affiliation:
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA
Pascal Nitiéma
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA
Mary A. Noffsinger
Affiliation:
Courtroom Sciences, Inc., Irving, TexasUSA
Vandana Varma
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA
Summer D. Nelson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Tulsa Institute of Trauma, Adversity, and Injustice, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OklahomaUSA
Elana Newman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Tulsa Institute of Trauma, Adversity, and Injustice, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OklahomaUSA
*
Correspondence: Betty Pfefferbaum, MD, JD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences College of Medicine University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center P.O. Box 26901 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA 73126-0901 E-mail [email protected]
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Abstract

Children face innumerable challenges following exposure to disasters. To address trauma sequelae, researchers and clinicians have developed a variety of mental health interventions. While the overall effectiveness of multiple interventions has been examined, few studies have focused on the individual components of these interventions. As a preliminary step to advancing intervention development and research, this literature review identifies and describes nine common components that comprise child disaster mental health interventions. This review concluded that future research should clearly define the constituent components included in available interventions. This will require that future studies dismantle interventions to examine the effectiveness of specific components and identify common therapeutic elements. Issues related to populations studied (eg, disaster exposure, demographic and cultural influences) and to intervention delivery (eg, timing and optimal sequencing of components) also warrant attention.

PfefferbaumB, SweetonJL, NitiémaP, NoffsingerMA, VarmaV, NelsonSD, NewmanE. Child Disaster Mental Health Interventions: Therapy Components. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(5):1-9.

Keywords

children and adolescentscognitive behavioral therapydisasterdisaster mental health interventionsintervention componentsmental health interventionsterrorismtrauma
Type
Comprehensive Review
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , October 2014 , pp. 494 - 502
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2014 

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