THE EFFECTS OF A NATURAL DISASTER ON CHILD-BEHAVIOR - EVIDENCE FOR POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS

Objectives. A prospective study of children examined both before and a fter a flood disaster in Bangladesh is used to test the hypothesis tha t stressful events play a causal role in the development of behavioral disorders in children. Methods. Six months before the disaster, struc tured measures of selected behavioral problems were made during an epi demiological study of disability among 2- to 9-year-old children. Five months after the disaster, a representative sample of 162 surviving c hildren was reevaluated. Results. Between the pre- and postflood asses sments, the prevalence of aggressive behavior increased from zero to n early 10%, and 45 of the 134 children who had bladder control before t he flood (34%) developed enuresis. Conclusions. These results help def ine what may be considered symptoms of posttraumatic distress in child hood; they also contribute to mounting evidence of the need to develop and evaluate interventions aimed at ameliorating the behavioral and p sychological consequences of children's exposure to extreme and trauma tic situations.