Take Notice
Post Earthquake Stress Reactions in Children and Adolescents in Canterbury 2011/2012
It is common for parents to worry about the reaction of their children to these events. However, although most children are resilient and will improve with time, around 10% of children will have enduring post trauma symptoms that may not remit without psychological treatment.
A child’s reaction to this type of natural disaster will depend a lot on the age and developmental stage of the child, their previous experiences with stressful events and how parents, families and communities cope. Younger children are more vulnerable than adolescents, probably because of their reliance on the adult carers’ capacity to protect them, regulate their affect and problem-solve their daily needs. Adolescent brains have better developed self regulatory capacity and they can gain support from their peer social networks.
Young children
Common stress symptoms include:
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Younger children may be more clingy, experience bad dreams (not always just about the earthquake), have a loss of appetite, or may complain of physical symptoms eg headaches and stomach aches. They may generalise their fears and anxieties to other things like the weather or other natural disasters.
Suggestions for parental support of children
Be supportive and reassuring. Parents may find that their children may simply need to be held more often. Encourage parents to use the strategies they used successfully in the past when their child needed extra support eg when the child was sick.
Young children rely on adults to make sense of the world around them and make them feel safe. With so much that has changed in around them, they may still be trying to make senses of what has happened. Encourage parents to talking calmly to their children using developmentally appropriate language and realistically addressing their fears.
This may need to done more than once as questions arise in the course of everyday events.
Children may use play eg re-enactment or drawing pictures about the earthquake, intermittently to help them process this information but if ‘earthquake play’ is prolonged and the only type of play, is a symptom of concern.
Although earthquake media is now sparse, it is important to limit children’s exposure to media and TV coverage of other disasters as they may reactivate the child’s trauma experiences.
Children function better when their environment is safe and predictable. It is helpful for parents to maintain regular routines, such as meal times and bedtimes.
Post stress reactions include irritability. However although in the immediate post earthquake weeks aggressive or angry behaviour was tolerated, parents are now encouraged to adopt a nurturing but firm approach, pointing out to the child that their behaviour is not acceptable.
Symptoms of concern
Post Traumatic Stress symptoms
- Ongoing hyper-arousal / hyper-vigilance
- Significant avoidance e.g., of school,
- Marked anxiety with aftershocks and other triggers
- Fear of the damaged areas and signs of damage
- Intrusive images
- Appears numb and ‘different from before’
- which are interfering with normal developmental tasks such as playing / managing the educational and social school environment / interfering with family life.
Anxiety/Depressive Symptoms
- Physical symptoms (e.g., palpitations, nausea, sweatiness, dizziness) when reminded of the event.
- Difficulty concentrating, lack of tolerance.
- Not being able to stop or control worrying.
- Often feeling afraid as though something awful might happen.
- Feeling depressed or hopeless.
- Irritability and low frustration tolerance
- Avoidance of going out including to school
- Suicidal thoughts, self harming behaviour and suicide attempts.
More severe distress, depression and anxiety can lead to suicidal thoughts, attempts and self harming behaviour. This is rare in children but the risks increase with age. The suicide risk is higher in those with concurrent substance abuse, hopelessness and social disconnection.
How to refer children and adolescents (<18 years or still at school) of concern
At CAFlink ( 0800 218 219 or fax (03) 3377822) there is a child and family ‘earthquake team’ who can assess, provide support for up to 3 session and/or refer on to child and adolescent specialist groups and individual psychological treatments as well as local child and adolescent psychiatry teams.
Fill in this form or phone to discuss: http://www.cdhb.govt.nz/caf-mhs/access-outpatient-service.htm