American and Soviet Teenagers' Concerns about Nuclear War and the Future

Chivian, Eric; Robinson, John P.; Tudge, Jonathan; Popov, N.P.; Andreyenkov, Vladimir G.

doi:10.1056/nejm198808183190705

Cited by 30 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Studies in many countries have shown that worrying about nuclear war is prevalent among adolescents (Solantaus et al, 1985;Chivian et al, 1988;Stillion et al, 1988). The threat of nuclear war has been suspected to bring about undue emphasis on immediate gratification, feelings of meaninglessness of future, drug use and impairment in mental health (Hamilton et al, 1988).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Threat of nuclear war related to increased anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms among adolescents

Poikolainen

Kanerva

Lönnqvist

1994

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

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Evidence on the relation between the threat of nuclear war and mental health among adolescents is conflicting. We studied 1493 adolescents in the 10th to 12th grades in school, who completed self-administered questionnaires 1-43 days before the Persian Gulf war broke out. Regression analyses controlled for several potential confounders. After this, the frequency of thinking about nuclear war and the frequency of fearing nuclear war were positively related to perceived present state anxiety among both boys and girls. Among boys, both thinking and fearing were positively related to the psychosomatic symptom score. Among girls, estimates on deaths due to nuclear war associated significantly with psychosomatic symptoms. Long-term effects of the threat of nuclear war on mental health of adolescents merit further study.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Threat of nuclear war related to increased anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms among adolescents

Poikolainen

Kanerva

Lönnqvist

1994

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

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“…Adolescents are worried about the possibility of nuclear war (2,3). However, no studies have explored whether fear of nuclear war is an expression of intrapsychic factors arising from the deep irrational layers of unconsciousness or a response to actual, real danger.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing fear of nuclear war among adolescents before the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War

Poikolainen¹,

Kanerva²,

Lönnqvist³

1998

Nordic Journal of Psychiatry

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KARI POIKOLAINEN, RIITTA KANERVA, JOUKO LO 8 NNQVIST Poikolainen K, Kanerva K, Lö nnqvist J. Increasing fear of nuclear war among adolescents before the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War. Nord J Psychiatry 1998;52:197 -202. Oslo. ISSN 0803-9488. After the occupation of Kuwait by Iraq, tension grew in the Persian Gulf area, and war became increasingly likely until it broke out on 16 January 1991. Uncertainty about the magnitude of warfare and the possible use of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons may have caused fear all over the world. We studied the perceived threat of nuclear war among adolescents between 4-21 December 1990 (n = 1137) and 15 -16 January 1991 (n = 336) in Finland. Increases were found in both the frequency of thinking about and the frequency of fearing nuclear war between December and January among both girls and boys. Both the frequency of fear and its increase were higher among girls than boys. After adjusting for potential confounders in regression analyses, the adolescents studied in January, just before the onset of the Gulf War, feared nuclear war clearly more often and thought about it more often than the group studied in the previous December. Fear of nuclear war was also positively related to time spent reading newspapers, the number of positive life events, and the tendency to adopt neurotic defense styles among both sexes. Among girls, fear was also positively related to trait anxiety. Among boys, higher fear levels were related to lower self-esteem. We conclude that the threat of modern warfare may spread fear among a major part of the adolescents living far from the area of actual conflict.

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“…Studies of children in the Soviet republics, Israel, Hungary, England, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and China have been documented. Threat of nuclear war and death of a parent were the areas most often cited as the top con cerns for school children worldwide (Chivian, Robinson, Tudge, Popov, & Andreyenkov, 1988;Doctor, Goldenring, & Powell, 1987;Dodds & Chong-de, 1992;KidsPeace, 1995). In a U.S. survey of 1,023 children ages 10-13 (KidsPeace), 65 percent feared the death of a parent and more than 50 percent feared AIDS, being a victim of violent crime, and having a substandard income.…”

Section: Journal For the Education Of The Giftedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children's Thoughts about the Future: Comparing Gifted & Nongifted Students after 20 Years

George

Scheft

1998

Journal for the Education of the Gifted

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Twenty years after the original study comparing gifted and regular students' thoughts and concerns about the future, this study réexamines those same issues in the same school community. In 1975, gifted students were significantly more pessimistic toward the future than regular students. When faced with future problems, the gifted students were significantly more solutions oriented than regular students. Today, the situation has changed. Both groups are increasingly more negative toward the future, and the pessimism of gifted students has dramatically increased. More problematic for educators is that gifted students are less solutions oriented. Gifted students see a plethora of problems and few solutions.

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American and Soviet Teenagers' Concerns about Nuclear War and the Future

Cited by 30 publications

References 16 publications

Threat of nuclear war related to increased anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms among adolescents

Threat of nuclear war related to increased anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms among adolescents

Increasing fear of nuclear war among adolescents before the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War

Children's Thoughts about the Future: Comparing Gifted & Nongifted Students after 20 Years

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