Disasters, Terrorism, and Child/Family Mental Health

Disasters are destructive occurrences that disrupt and overwhelm entire communities. They confront every society and collectively affect as many as thirty-three million individuals worldwide in a given year. When disasters strike, a great many youth are in close proximity and are vulnerable to directly witnessing massive destruction, seeing dead or injured people, being involved in a school evacuation, losing a loved one, viewing physical damage or ruins, and/or being forced to relocate residency. Accordingly, examining the psychological impact of disasters on youth constitutes a matter of tremendous public health concern. The MINT Program has conducted extensive research examining the impact of disasters and terrorism on exposed children and their families. Much of our work in this area has focused on children affected by terrorism (e.g., the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt), hurricanes, and public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Our work on children affected by disasters and terrorism examines posttraumatic stress symptoms and broader emotional and behavioral problems among children following direct exposure, the mental health toll of media-based contact with disasters and terrorism among children near and far, the intergenerational transmission of distress following disaster exposure, and the manners in which families communicate about and make sense of disasters. Under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Comer, the MINT Program heads the SAMHSA-funded Network for Enhancing Wellness in Disaster-Affected Youth (NEW DAY), which provides training for youth-serving professionals across the country in multi-tiered, trauma-informed supports in the wake of disaster. To date, the NEW DAY team has provided training in Psychological First Aid and in Respond with CARE (Child-Adult Relationship Enhancement) to over 5,000 youth-serving professionals in communities impacted by disasters.

Representative MINT publications on the impact on Disasters, Terrorism & Child/Family Mental Health (para obtener una lista completa de los estudios, haga clic aquí):

Comer, J.S., Salem, H., Urcuyo, A., Sáez-Clarke, E., Karlovich, A.R., Coxe, S., Ehrenreich-May, J., Evans, A., Galvon, A., Malloy, L., Pincus, D.B., Dick, A.S., Furr, J.M., Green, J.G., Gurwitch, R., & Peris, T.S. (in press). COVID-19-related posttraumatic stress in U.S. and Canadian youth in the first year of the pandemic. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Evans, A.D., Dykstra, V.W., Comer, J.S., Ehrenreich-May, J., Peris, T.S., Pincus, D.B., & Malloy, L.C. (in press). Profiles of parent-reported family communication about the COVID-19 pandemic: Family predictors and child mental health correlates. Developmental Psychology.

Malloy, L.C., Dykstra, V.W., Steen, R., Filoso, D., Salem, H., Comer, J.S., Peris, T.S., Pincus, D.B., Ehrenreich-May, J., & Evans, A.D. (2024). Avoidant parent-child communication about COVID-19: A longitudinal investigation of associations with youth adjustment across the first 6 months of the pandemic. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 52(2), 253-266.

La Greca, A.M., Tarlow, N., Brodar, K.E., Danzi, B.A., & Comer, J.S. (2023). Impact of disaster evacuation experiences on parental stress and youth mental health. International Journal of Psychology, 58,1024.

La Greca, A.M., Tarlow, N., Brodar, K.E., Danzi, B.A., & Comer, J.S. (2022). The stress before the storm: Psychological correlates of hurricane-related evacuation stressors on mothers and children. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 14 (S1), S13-S22.

Trucco, E.M., Fallah-Sohy, N., Hartmann, S.A., Cristello, J.V., Comer, J.S., & Sutherland, M.T. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 experiences on adolescent mental health problems and substance use among a predominantly Latinx sample.Journal Youth and Adolescence, 51(5), 821-831.

Sáez-Clarke, E., Comer, J.S., Evans, A., Karlovich, A.M., Malloy, L., Peris, T.S., Pincus, D.B., Salem H., & Ehrenreich-May, J (2022). Development and validation of the Fear of Illness & Virus Evaluation (FIVE) COVID-19 scales for children—parent/caregiver report development and validation. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 89, 102586.

Dick, A. S., Silva, K., Gonzalez, R., Sutherland, M., Laird, A., Gurwitch, R., La Greca, A., Squeglia, L., Gray, K., Nixon, S.J., Cottler, L., Tapert, S., & Comer, J.S. (2021). Neural vulnerability and hurricane-based media are associated with posttraumatic stress in youth. Nature Human Behavior, 5, 1578-1589.

Comer, J.S. (2021). Rebooting mental health care delivery for the COVID-19 pandemic (and beyond): Guiding cautions as telehealth enters the clinical mainstream. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 28, 743-748.

Sullivan, A.D., Forehand, R., Acosta, J., Parent, J., Comer, J.S., Loiselle, R., & Jones, D.J. (2021). COVID-19 and the acceleration of remote behavioral parent training: Current status and in future directions.Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 28, 618-629.

Danzi, B.A., La Greca, A.M., Green, J.G., & Comer, J.S. (2021). What’s in a name? Comparing alternative definitions of PTSD symptoms among preadolescent children following the Boston Marathon bombing and manhunt. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 34, 545-558.

Gurwitch, R., Salem, H., Nelson, M., & Comer, J.S. (2020). Leveraging Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and telehealth capacities to address the unique needs of young children during the COVID-19 public health crisis. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1),S82-S84.

Brodar, K.E., La Greca, A.M., Tarlow, N., & Comer, J.S. (2020). “My kids are my priority”: Mothers’ decisions to evacuate for Hurricane Irma and evacuation intentions for future hurricanes. Journal of Family Issues, 41, 2251-2274.

Kritikos, T.K., Comer, J.S., He, M., Curren, L., & Tompson, M.C. (2019). Combat experiences and PTSD among military-serving parents: A meta-analytic examination of associated offspring and family outcomes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47 , 131-148.

La Greca, A.M., Brodar, K.E., Danzi, B.A., Tarlow, N., Silva, K., & Comer, J.S. (2019). Before the storm: Stressors associated with the Hurricane Irma evacuation process for families. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , 13, 63-73.

Crum, K., Cornacchio, D., Coxe, S., Green, J.G., & Comer, J.S. (2018). A latent profile analysis of co-occurring child posttraumatic stress and conduct problems following community trauma. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27, 3638-3649.

Carpenter, A.L., Elkins, R.M., Kerns, C., Chou, T., Green, J.G., & Comer, J.S. (2017). Event-related household discussions following the Boston Marathon bombing and associated posttraumatic stress among area youth. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 46, 331-342 .

Chou, T., Carpenter, A., Kerns, C.E., Elkins, R.M., Green, J.G., & Comer, J.S. (2017). Disqualified qualifiers: Evaluating the utility of the revised DSM-5 definition of potentially traumatic events among area youth following the Boston Marathon bombing. Depression and Anxiety, 34 , 367-373 .

Crum, K.I., Cornacchio, D., Coxe, S., Green, J.G., & Comer, J.S. (2017). Conduct problems among Boston-area youth following the 2013 Marathon bombing: The moderating role of prior violent crime exposure. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 46 , 343-352.

Comer, J.S., Bry, L., Poznanski, B., & Golik, A.M. (2016). Children’s mental health in the context of terrorist attacks, ongoing threats, and possibilities of future terrorism. Current Psychiatry Reports, 18, 79 .

Comer, J.S., DeSerisy, M., & Green, J.G. (2016). Caregiver-reports of Internet exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms among Boston-area youth following the 2013 Marathon bombing. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 1, 86-102.

Green, J.G., Xuan, Z., Kwong, L., Holt, M.K., & Comer, J.S. (2016). Teachers’ reports of outreach to school-based mental health service providers following the 2013 Boston Marathon attack. Children and Schools, 38, 227-234.

Green, J.G., Holt, M.K., Kwong, L., Reid, G., Xuan, Z., & Comer, J.S. (2015). School and classroom-based support for children following the 2013 Boston Marathon attack and manhunt. School Mental Health, 7 , 81-91.

Comer, J.S., Dantowitz, A., Chou, T., Edson, A.L., Elkins, R.M., Kerns, C., Brown, B., & Green, J.G.(2014). Adjustment among area youth after the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt. Pediatrics, 134 , 7-14 .

Comer, J.S., Kerns, C., Elkins, R.M., Edson, A.L., Chou, T., Dantowitz, A., Miguel, E., Brown, B., Coxe, S., & Green, J.G. (2014). Adjustment among children with relatives who participated in the manhunt following the Boston Marathon attack. Depression and Anxiety, 31, 542-550.

Kerns, C.E., Elkins, R.M., Carpenter, A.L., Chou, T., Green, J.G., & Comer, J.S. (2014). Caregiver distress, shared traumatic exposure, and child adjustment among area youth following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Journal of Affective Disorders, 167 , 50-55.

Furr, J.M., Comer, J.S., Edmunds, J., & Kendall, P.C. (2010). Disasters and youth: A meta-analytic examination of posttraumatic stress. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78 , 765-780 .

Comer, J.S., Fan, B., Duarte, C., Wu, P., Musa, G., Mandell, D., Albano, A.M., & Hoven, C. (2010). Attack-related life disruption and child psychopathology in New York City public schoolchildren 6-months post-9/11. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39 , 460-469.

Comer, J.S., Furr, J.M., Beidas, R.S., Weiner, C.L., & Kendall, P.C. (2008). Children and terrorism-related news: Training parents in coping and media literacy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 568-578.

Comer, J.S., Furr, J.M., Beidas, R.S., Babyar, H., & Kendall, P.C. (2008). Media use and children’s perceptions of societal threat and personal vulnerability. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37, 622-630.

Comer, J.S., & Kendall, P.C. (2007). Terrorism: The psychological impact on youth. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 14 , 179-212.