A cognitive developmental approach to understanding how children cope with disasters.

TOPIC: This paper applies cognitive developmental theory to explain how preschoolers, school-age children, and adolescents process and respond to disasters.

PURPOSE: To help clinicians understand the disaster experience from a child's point of view, recognize age-specific reactions, identify symptoms that may signal coping difficulties, and plan effective interventions.

SOURCES: Case examples from the author's work with flood victims illustrate typical reactions for children (preschool to adolescents) within a family context, along with developmentally appropriate interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

Children affected by disasters need nursing interventions geared toward their particular developmental level and sensitive to their perception of the disaster.