Acute onset disasters impact children’s and adolescents’ psychological well-being, often leading to mental health challenges. The way a young person copes with the event plays a significant role in development of post-disaster psychopathology. Coping has been widely studied after acute onset disasters, however, difficulties conducting research in post-disaster contexts and the individualized nature of coping make accurate assessment of coping a significant challenge. A systematic literature search of multiple databases and previous reviews was conducted, exploring scholarly documentation of coping measurement and the relationship between coping and post-traumatic stress (PTSS) symptoms after acute onset disasters. A total of 384 peer-reviewed manuscripts were identified, and 18 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the current review. The studies examined coping and post-traumatic stress in the wake of acute onset disasters such as terrorist events and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires. Greater PTSS symptoms were related to internalizing, externalizing, rumination, and avoidant coping strategies. Coping measurement was constrained due to measurement variance, lack of developmentally and contextually vali-dated instruments, theoretical misalignment, and absence of comprehensive tools to assess coping. Robust and consistent measures of coping should be established to inform research and interventions to reduce the impact of disasters on children’s and adolescents’ well-being.

Objective: Community health workers (CHWs) in disaster-affected areas are at risk for emotional distress, as they support others while they may be in the process of rebuilding their own lives. The Resilience and Coping for the Healthcare Community (RCHC) intervention was developed in response to the stress CHWs faced after Hurricane Sandy. The intervention uses psychoeducation to help participants identify common stress responses, recognize signs of job burnout, and utilize healthy coping strategies.Methods: A mixed-methods pilot of the RCHC intervention was conducted in 2013 with a convenience sample of staff from 6 federally qualified health centers (n=69). Validated measures of stress, coping, compassion fatigue and satisfaction, burnout, stress, and social provisions and a measure of perceived knowledge were administered at baseline, after the workshop, and at a 3-week follow-up. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected participants and were analyzed by using content analysis.Results: From baseline to the post-workshop assessment, perceived knowledge scores increased from 24.59 to 30.34, t(62)=5.16 (P<0.001), and acute stress scores decreased significantly from 10.53 to 6.78, t(64)=4.74 (P<0.001). Significant increases from baseline to the 3-week follow-up (n=45) were found for perceived knowledge (24.05 to 27.24; t(40)=5.37; P<0.001), and social provisions (27.34 to 28.39; t(44)=2.15; P<0.05).Conclusions: Our qualitative findings indicated that the respondents valued learning about common stress responses and incorporating coping as part of a daily routine. Team building and normalization of emotions were seen as ancillary benefits that would reduce stress levels in the workplace. In conclusion, the RCHC intervention shows promise and should be investigated further in experimental studies. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 8)

Background: In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, causing unprecedented damage and loss in the mountain and hill regions of central Nepal. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between healthcare access and utilization, and post-disaster mental health symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted with 750 disaster-affected individuals in six districts in central Nepal 15 months post-earthquake. Anxiety and depression were measured through the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Healthcare utilization questions examined types of healthcare in the communities, utilization, and approachability of care providers. Univariate analyses, ANOVAs and Tobit regression were used. Results: Depression and anxiety symptoms were significantly higher for females and individuals between 40–50 years old. Those who utilized a district hospital had the lowest anxiety and depression scores. Participants who indicated medical shops were the most important source of health-related information had more anxiety and depression than those who used other services. Higher quality of healthcare was significantly associated with fewer anxiety and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Mental health symptoms can last long after a disaster occurs. Access to quality mental health care in the primary health care settings is critical to help individuals and communities recover immediately and during the long-term recovery.

No two emergency situations are alike. A combination of human and contextual factors makes each emergency and disaster unique in its time line, its aftermath, and especially its impact on affected populations. In all of these situations, however, people engage in prosocial behavior that benefits others. We provide an overview of altruistic and other prosocial behavior in typical human development and of developmental distinctions between helping, sharing, and comforting. We focus on the expression of these behaviors in emergency situations, using the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate how prosociality shifts and adapts in a specific context. Finally, we suggest that a developmental framework may help researchers and professionals in the field achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the many facets and underlying mechanisms of prosociality in emergency contexts.

This article presents the Journey of Hope (JoH), a school-based intervention for children who have experienced a collective trauma such as a natural disaster. Through the use of group work, the JoH focuses on building coping skills and enhancing protective factors to help children recover. This quasi-experimental research included 102 children impacted by tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2011. Through an hierarchical linear model analysis with (n = 48) from the JoH group and (n = 54) from a wait-list control group, the outcomes indicate that after participation in the JoH youth had increased coping skills, F(100) = 5.270, p < .05, and prosocial behaviors, F(95) = 4.286, p < .05. This is the first quasi-experimental design to be conducted on the JoH; findings provide preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of this broad-based postdisaster intervention. Future replication studies with larger samples in other societies impacted by a natural disaster are needed to further evaluate the JoH’s impact in enhancing coping and building resilience.