On August 23, l992, Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida. In terms of property damage and displaced persons, this storm was the most significant natural disaster in the history of the United States. Tens of thousands of people were exposed to the trauma of the storm and were left homeless and without functioning utilities. Furthermore, the secondary stress associated with the aftermath has created significant challenges for thousands of families during a long- term recovery period. Studies indicate that children may display significant psychological problems following various trauma, but relatively few controlled studies have been conducted with appropriate control groups and reliable and valid measures. This is especially the case for studies of pre-school age minority children following major natural disasters: Little is known about their rate of post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and factors affecting its development and course.
The Specific Aims of this research are: 1) to determine the rate and course of PTSD among pre-school Head Start children and their mothers who were exposed to Hurricane Andrew, and 2) to identify factors affecting children's PTSD over the 12-month period following the storm, including gender, behavioral and emotional functioning, parental and family functioning, and ethnic/cultural factors. The subjects will be 250 pre-school age children and their mothers (half are Hispanic and half are African-American) who are enrolled in the Date County Head Start Program; they will be recruited from two sites in the devastated area and from one unaffected site, and they will be studied on two occasions (6 and 12 months post-hurricane). The methodology includes: standardized structured interviews of the mothers concerning demographic variables, hurricane exposure, and child functioning; videotaped clinical interviews and ratings of PTSD in children; maternal and teacher ratings of child behavior using standardized scales; and questionnaires completed by mothers about their own feelings of depression, PTSD symptoms, optimism, and perceptions about family functioning.
