Citation

Vijayakumar L, Kannan GK, Ganesh Kumar B, Devarajan P. Int. Rev. Psychiatry 2006; 18(6): 515-522.

Affiliation

Founder, SNEHA, Kotturpuram, Chennai.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/09540260601039876

PMID

17162691

Abstract

Children are uniquely vulnerable in the context of a major natural disaster like tsunami. Post disaster intervention studies in children are few, especially from developing countries like India. An intervention programme for children was developed and conducted at Srinivasapuram, a coastal hamlet in Chennai, a year after tsunami. Sixty- five children who participated in all the six intervention modules were compared to 70 children who did not participate in the intervention. All the children were assessed before and after intervention using the Youth Self Report (YSR) form of Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) in addition to PTSD symptoms. Children in the two groups were comparable in socio-demographic factors and exposure to tsunami. Prevalence of family psychopathology was more in the intervention group. Only hyperactivity problems were significantly reduced after intervention (z = 2.41 p = 0.016). Children in the intervention group appreciated expression of positive emotions (F = 8.044 p = 0.005) and were also more likely to desist from smoking (F = 6.102 p = 0.003) compared to the control group. The majority of the children are likely to be resilient and only children with pre-existing vulnerability require specific and specialized interventions.

Language: en