Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T04:10:13.847Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 6 - The Impact of Emergencies, Terrorism, and Disease on Children and Their Families

from Section 1 - The Nature and Impacts of Twenty-First-Century Healthcare Emergencies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2024

Richard Williams
Affiliation:
University of South Wales
Verity Kemp
Affiliation:
Independent Health Emergency Planning Consultant
Keith Porter
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Tim Healing
Affiliation:
Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London
John Drury
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Get access

Summary

Emergencies, incidents, disasters, and disease outbreaks (EIDD) affect children, young people, and their families in many ways, including across generations through epigenetic effects. Their mental wellbeing, life, and routines that continue beyond their injury, illness, or adversity can each be affected. Their reactions and responses can be influenced by the nature and extent of their exposure, personal characteristics, pre-existing vulnerabilities and strengths, and in particular by the family and social support that is offered. Almost all adverse childhood experiences are likely to increase in pandemics and following disasters due to natural and human-induced hazards. Psychosocial problems linked with emergencies are likely to emerge over the year following these events. Social connectedness and social scaffolding mitigate adversity, and promote wellbeing and recovery. This emphasises the importance of a co-ordinated and strategically aligned, psychosocially informed, and evidence-based governmental and system-wide response working across boundaries to support children and families in such crises.

Type
Chapter
Information
Major Incidents, Pandemics and Mental Health
The Psychosocial Aspects of Health Emergencies, Incidents, Disasters and Disease Outbreaks
, pp. 23 - 29
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (APA). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th ed. APA, 2013.Google Scholar
Public Health England. Impact on Mental Health. Chapter 7: Children and Young People. Public Health England, 2020 (www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report/7-children-and-young-people).Google Scholar
Loades, ME, Chatburn, E, Higson-Sweeney, N, Reynolds, S, Shafran, R, Brigden, A, et al. Rapid systematic review: the impact of social isolation and loneliness on the mental health of children and adolescents in the context of COVID-19. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2020; 59: 1218–39.Google Scholar
Thomas-Meyer, M, Allan, S, Tyrrell, C, Bealey, C, Cross, M, Gathercole, C, et al. A Rapid Review of Mental Health Impacts of Infectious Disease Epidemics and Major Incidents on Children and Young People: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Interventions; Summary and Key Points. Public Health England, 2020.Google Scholar
Alisic, E, Zalta, AK, Van Wesel, F, Larsen, SE, Hafstad, GS, Hassanpour, K, et al. Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed children and adolescents: meta-analysis. Br J Psychiatry 2014; 204: 335–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tang, B, Liu, X, Liu, Y, Xue, C, Zhang, L. A meta-analysis of risk factors for depression in adults and children after natural disasters. BMC Public Health 2014; 14: 623.Google Scholar
NHS Digital. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2020; Wave 1 follow up to the 2017 survey, 2020 (https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2020-wave-1-follow-up [cited 4 Jan 2021])Google Scholar
Furr, JM, Comer, JS, Edmunds, JS, Kendall, PC. Disasters and youth: a meta-analytic examination of posttraumatic stress. J Consult Clin Psychol 2010; 78: 765–80.Google Scholar
Wang, C, Chan, CL, Rainbow, TH. Prevalence and trajectory of psychopathology among child and adolescent survivors of disasters: a systematic review of epidemiological studies across 1987–2011. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2013; 48: 1697–720.Google Scholar
Sprang, G, Silman, M. Posttraumatic stress disorder in parents and youth after health-related disasters. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2013; 7: 105–10.Google Scholar
Hong, C, Efferth, T. Systematic review on post-traumatic stress disorder among survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake. Trauma Violence Abuse 2016; 17: 542–61.Google Scholar
Bartelink, VHM, Ya, KZ, Guldbrandsson, K, Bremberg, S. Unemployment among young people and mental health: a systematic review. Scand J Public Health 2020; 48: 544–58.Google Scholar
Slone, M, Mann, S. Effects of war, terrorism and armed conflict on young children: a systematic review. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2016; 47: 950–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon-Hollingsworth, AT, Yao, N, Huijing, C, Mingyi, Q, Sen, C. Understanding the impact of natural disasters on psychological outcomes in youth from Mainland China: a meta-analysis of risk and protective factors for post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. J Child Adolesc Trauma 2018; 11: 205–26.Google Scholar
Trickey, D, Siddaway, AP, Meiser-Stedman, R, Serpell, L, Field, AP. A meta-analysis of risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. Clin Psychol Rev 2012; 32: 122–38.Google Scholar
Duffy, M, McDermott, M, Percy, A, Ehlers, A, Clark, D, Fitzgerald, M, et al. The effects of the Omagh bomb on adolescent mental health: a school-based study. BMC Psychiatry 2015; 15 : 18.Google Scholar
Cheng, C, Cheung, MWL. Psychological responses to outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome: a prospective, multiple time-point study. J Pers 2005; 73: 261–85.Google Scholar
Pearcey, S, Shum, A, Waite, P, Creswell, C. COVID-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics. Supplementary Report 03: Differences in Pandemic Anxiety, Parent/Carer Stressors and Reported Needs Between Parent/Carers of Children with and without ASD; Change Over Time in Mental Health for Children with ASD. Westminster Foundation, 2020 (https://cospaceoxford.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Co-SPACE-supp-report-03_06-09-21.pdf).Google Scholar
Levita, L, Gibson Miller, J, Hartman, TK, Murphy, J, Shevlin, M, McBride, O, et al. Report 2: Impact of Covid-19 on Young People Aged 13–24 in the UK – Preliminary Findings. Center for Open Science, 2020 (https://psyarxiv.com/s32j8/)Google Scholar
Youssef, NA, Lockwood, L, Su, S, Hao, G, Rutten, B. The effects of trauma, with or without PTSD, on the transgenerational DNA methylation alterations in human offsprings. Brain Sci 2018; 8: 83.Google Scholar
Singer, M, Bulled, N, Ostrach, B, Mendenhall, E. Syndemics and the biosocial conception of health. Lancet 2017; 389: 941–50.Google Scholar
Marmot, M, Allen, J, Boyce, T, Goldblatt, P, Morrison, J. Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On. Institute of Health Equity, 2020.Google Scholar
Morrison, GL, Joshi, H, Parsonage, M, Schoon, I. Children of the New Century. Centre for Mental Health and University College London, 2015.Google Scholar
Cassidy, R, Singh, NS, Schiratti, PR, Semwanga, A, Binyaruka, P, Sachingonu, N, et al. Mathematical modelling for health systems research: a systematic review of system dynamics and agent-based models. BMC Health Serv Res 2019; 19: 845.Google Scholar
Williams, R, Drury, J. The nature of psychosocial resilience and its significance for managing mass emergencies, disasters and terrorism. In Rebuilding Sustainable Communities for Children and Their Families After Disasters: A Global Survey (ed. Awotona, A): 5775. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.Google Scholar
Haslam, C, Haslam, A, Cruwys, T. Social scaffolding: supporting the development of positive social identities and agency. In Social Scaffolding; Applying the Lessons of Contemporary Social Science to Health and Healthcare (eds Williams, R, Kemp, V, Haslam, SA, Haslam, C, Bhui, S, Bailey, S): 244–56. Cambridge University Press, 2019.Google Scholar
Rousseau, C, Uzma, J, Kamaldeep, B, Boudjarane, M. Consequences of 9/11 and the war on terror on children’s and young adults’ mental health: a systematic review of the past 10 years. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 2015; 20: 173–93.Google Scholar
Williams, R, Kemp, VJ, Alexander, DA. The psychosocial and mental health of people who are affected by conflict, catastrophes, terrorism, adversity and displacement. In Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine: A Practical Guide (eds Ryan, J, Hopperus, BA, Beadling, C, Mozumder, A, Nott, DM): 805–49. Springer, 2014.Google Scholar
French, P, Barrett, A, Allsopp, K, Williams, R, Brewin, C, Hind, D, et al. Psychological screening of adults and young people following the Manchester Arena incident. BJPsych Open 2019; 5: e85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danese, A, Smith, P, Chitsabesan, P, Dubicka, B. Child and adolescent mental health amidst emergencies and disasters. Br J Psychiatry 2020; 216: 159–62.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×