Media coverage and children's reactions to disaster with implications for primary care and public health.
To address the potential for media coverage of traumatic events to generate fear reactions in children, we examined exposure and reactions to media coverage of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in children attending a middle school 100 miles from the disaster site two and three years after the event. Many of the children studied recalled feeling "afraid," "sad," or "mad" in relation to initial media coverage. Overall exposure and reactions to bomb-related media coverage declined over the three years. However, these reactions persisted for some children and, when they did, the reactions were related to exposure to coverage right after the bombing. Approximately one-fourth of the children recalled that the bombing made them feel "a lot" less safe in their home, school, and/or neighborhood. These perceptions persisted for approximately 10% of the children. Our Findings suggest the importance of primary care and public health interventions to determine and monitor children's reactions.
Pfefferbaum
Betty
B
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. betty-pfefferbaum@ouhsc.edu
Jeon-Slaughter
Hattie
H
Pfefferbaum
Rose L
RL
Houston
J Brian
JB
Rainwater
Scott M
SM
Regens
James L
JL
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000523:psychology*; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D011634:Public Health; D012938:Social Perception; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D023481:Terrorism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data