Children and war: Current understandings and future directions

During the last decade, the number of children whose lives have been disrup ted by war, oppression, terror, and other forms of conflict has grown treme ndously. When the United Nations High Commission for Refugees was first est ablished during the 1950s to provide international protection to refugees f ollowing World War II, it was estimated that there were 1.5 million refugee s and displaced persons. Today there are approximately 14 million, about th ree-fourths of whom are women and children. Although the experiences of ref ugee children and adolescents vary considerably, many have witnessed or exp erienced the death or murder of loved ones. Upon resettlement, they face nu merous challenges. Research with this population is a relatively new area o f investigation, but there is evidence that many of these young people expe rience long-term physical and emotional health problems. In this article, c urrent research findings are reviewed, the widespread emphasis in the liter ature on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is critically examined, futu re research directions are suggested, and implications for public health nu rses are addressed.