HURRICANE-ANDREW - PARENT CONFLICT AS A MODERATOR OF CHILDRENS ADJUSTMENT

This project war an exploratory examination of the effects of parental conflict and ethnicity on children's stress related to Hurricane Andr ew. Three months following fire disaster 89 elementary school children from ethnically diverse two-parent homes were surveyed. Children rate d their symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), perceived pa rental conflict their anxiety level, and hurricane-related traumatic e xperiences. High parental conflict war related to more PTSD symptoms. However, this was qualified by interactions with ethnicity. Far Hispan ic children, more parental conflict was associated with significantly more PTSD symptoms than was less parental conflict. In addition, among high parental conflict children, Hispanic children reported more PTSD symptoms than did White children. This result was not found for anxie ty, suggesting that difficulties experienced by Hispanic children from high-conflict homes were specific to the traumatic event. Future rese arch should examine the potential differential cultural impact of pare ntal conflict on children's functioning following a disaster.