Situational exposure and personal loss in children's acute and chronic stress reactions to a school bus disaster

Norman A. Milgram, Yosef H. Toubiana, Avigdor Klingman, Amiram Raviv, Ivan Goldstein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Questionnaire data were obtained on seventh grade children a week after a catastrophic school bus accident, and 9 months later. Both acute and chronic stress reactions were more related to prior friendship with victims than to exposure to accident-related stressors. In fact, the effect of differential exposure on stress reactions in this particular accident was found to be nil, when the effect of prior friendship was controlled. The incidence of moderate and severe stress reactions was high in the initial acute phase and decreased markedly by 9 months. The professional help received and interest in future help were related to personal loss and to the extent of stress reactions both after 1 week and 9 months. Implications for disaster intervention were drawn.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)339-352
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Traumatic Stress
Volume1
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1988

Keywords

  • crisis intervention
  • grief
  • post-traumatic stress reaction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Situational exposure and personal loss in children's acute and chronic stress reactions to a school bus disaster'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this