© 2002 Oxford University Press
Child and Adolescent Needs in a Time of National Disaster: Perspectives for Mental Health Professionals and Parents
From the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Contact author: Carlton E. Munson, PhD, Professor, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, 525 W. Redwood St., Baltimore, MD 21201-1777. E-mail: cmunson{at}intrepid.net
In this article, the author provides a theoretical framework and clinical guidelines for work with children and adolescents in the general population and in clinical populations in light of the terrorist attacks and bio-terrorist anthrax attacks in the United States. Recommendations for mental health providers, parents, and other caregivers are provided. Reactions are discussed from a developmental perspective and are organized by developmental stages of infants and toddlers, preschoolers, elementary school, middle school, and adolescence. Clinical perspectives are organized according to DSM-IV-TR classifications of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and dissociative disorders. There is focus on symptom recognition and intervention strategies.
KEY WORDS: adolescents, children, developmental perspective, depression, mental health professionals, PTSD, terrorism, trauma