Youths are vulnerable to appreciable PTS after disaster, with pre-existing child characteristics, aspects of the disaster experience, and study methodology each associated with variations in the effect magnitude. Findings underscore the importance of measurement considerations in post-disaster research. Areas in need of research include the long-term impact of disasters, disaster-related media exposure, prior trauma and psychopathology, social support, ethnicity/race, prejudice, parental psychopathology, and the effects of disasters in developing regions of the world. Policy and clinical implications are discussed.

No abstract

Objective To examine patterns and recent trends in multi-class psychotropic treatment among youth visits to office-based physicians in the United States. Method Annual data from the 1996–2007 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys were analyzed to examine patterns and trends in multi-class psychotropic treatment within a nationally representative sample of 3466 child and adolescent visits to office-based physicians in which a psychotropic medication was prescribed. Results There was an increase in the percentage of child visits in which psychotropic medications were prescribed that included at least two psychotropic classes. Across the twelve year period, multi-class psychotropic treatment rose from 14.3% of child psychotropic visits (1996–1999) to 20.2% (2004–2007) (AOR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.22–2.94, p<.01). Among medical visits in which a current mental disorder was diagnosed, the percentage with multi-class psychotropic treatment increased from 22.2% (1996–1999) to 32.2% (2004–2007) (AOR: 2.23, 95% CI: 1.42–3.52, p<.001). Over time, there were significant increases in multi-class psychotropic visits in which ADHD medications, antidepressants, or antipsychotics were prescribed, and a decrease in those visits in which mood stabilizers were prescribed. There were also specific increases in co-prescription of ADHD medications and antipsychotic medications (AOR: 6.22, 95% CI: 2.82–13.70, p<.001) and co-prescription of antidepressant and antipsychotic medications (AOR: 5.77, 95% CI: 2.88–11.60, p<.001). Conclusions Although little is known about the safety and efficacy of regimens that involve concomitant use of two or more psychotropic agents for children and adolescents, multi-class psychotropic pharmacy is becoming increasingly common in outpatient practice.

Research on the psychological impact of terrorism on youth is reviewed and evaluated. Children having proximal contact with terrorism show elevated posttraumatic stress, separation anxiety, and/or other symptoms. Following a terrorist attack, youth proximal and distal to the attack are exposed to a vast amount of attackrelated media coverage and exposure to such media coverage is associated with postattack posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. However, the research is inchoate, including an insufficient scope and methodological limitations. Research has yet to examine the impact that exposure to an extended context of threat, expectation, and alert has on child development. Importantly, how are children influenced by secondhand terrorism -the context in which cultural influences disproportionately attend to the possibilities , rather than probabilities , of future terrorism? Research is needed to evaluate the impact of terrorism on psychopathology (beyond PTSD), functional impairment, and ethnic stereotyping in youth, and to examine the efficacy of psychological programs that strive to redress the problems of youth affected by terrorism.

Findings build on the small but growing literature supporting the promising role of new technologies for expanding the delivery of behavioral parent training. (PsycINFO Database Record