Adolescent behavior and PTSD 6-7 years after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001

Details

• Personal Author:
  Farfel MR ; Li J ; Mann M ; Maslow CB ; Osahan S ; Stellman SD
• Description:
  Behavioral problems and psychopathologies were reported in children exposed to the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks in New York City within 2-3 y post-disaster. Little is known of subsequent 9/11 related behavioral and emotional problems. We assessed risk factors for behavioral difficulties and probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 489 adolescent enrollees ages 11-18 y of age in the World Trade Center Health Registry cohort using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and DISC Predictive Scales (DPS), respectively, as reported by the adolescents. Associations between parental PTSD and adolescent PTSD and behavioral problems were studied in a subset of 166 adolescent-parent pairs in which the parent was also a Registry enrollee. Nearly one-fifth (17.4%) of the adolescents, all of whom were 5-12 y old at the time of the attacks, scored in the abnormal (5.7%) or borderline (11.7%) range of total SDQ. Problems were more frequent in minority, low-income, and single-parent adolescents. Abnormal and borderline SDQ scores were significantly associated with direct WTC exposures and with WTC-related injury or death of a family member. Adolescent PTSD was significantly associated with WTC exposure and with fear of one's own injury or death, and with PTSD in the parent (OR D 5.6; 95% CI 1.1-28.4). This adolescent population should be monitored for persistence or worsening of these problems. Co-occurrence of parent and child mental health symptoms following a disaster may have implications for healthcare practitioners and for disaster response planners. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Aging Behavior Mental Health Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks Stress, Psychological Surveys And Questionnaires

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• Keywords:
  9/11 Adolescents Age-groups Author Keywords: Adolescents Children Disaster Exposure-levels Follow-up Force Humans Mental-health Psychological-effects Psychological-responses Psychological-stress Psychology PTSD Questionnaires Risk-factors Statistical-analysis World Trade Center

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• ISSN:
  2166-5044
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  121-129
• Volume:
  2
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046542
• Citation:
  Disaster Health 2014 Jul; 2(3-4):121-129
• Contact Point Address:
  Steven D Stellman, Department of Epidemiology; Mailman School of Public Health; Columbia University; New York, NY USA
• Email:
  sds91@columbia.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Health/Mental Hygiene
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090430
• Source Full Name:
  Disaster Health
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f429634cd43c370616b5baf4187e20bfb9ee5e8ea6d26f3d4188ce30fc2cb04a32a4c4cd3ca7ee1a679f315bf9d90dc5cd2665be3efce7d117d2699686a1e87c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201561/cdc_201561_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 682.56 KB ]