Disaster at a distance: Impact of 9.11.01 televised news coverage on mothers’ and children’s health

Mental Health Consequences of September 11: A Five-Year Review of the Behavioral Sciences Literature

“…Another study (Kennedy et al 2004) conducted in California assessed the impact of television coverage of the attacks on 40 children and their mothers. Sixty-eight percent of mothers and 38% of children reported stress symptoms following the attacks.…”

Emergency Mental Health Services for Children After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001

“…This term refers to grieving by community members for persons with whom they share no personal connection (Catalano 2006). From a public health perspective, however, witnessing media coverage of the attacks may have produced trauma-related symptoms in children (Kennedy, Charlesworth, & Chen, 2004). Parental witnessing of these traumatic events, moreover, may have led to their reduced availability and/or neglect of children's needs that otherwise may have been addressed.…”

Research Methods in Child Disaster Studies: A Review of Studies Generated by the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks; the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami; and Hurricane Katrina

“…Thirty-one (45.6 %) studies of the September 11 attacks in this review examined the relationship of media contact with emotional and health behaviors and outcomes in children in New York City (e.g., Duarte et al 2011; Hoven et al 2005), Boston (e.g., Otto et al 2007), California (e.g., Kennedy et al 2004; Milam et al 2005), Seattle (e.g., Lengua et al, 2005), a southeastern coastal city (e.g., Saylor et al 2003), across the United States (e.g., Schuster et al 2001), and as far away as London (e.g., Holmes et al 2007) and India (e.g., Ray and Malhi 2005). These studies used a variety of assessment approaches including surveys or interviews delivered in person (e.g., Hoven et al 2005), on the telephone (e.g., Schuster et al 2001), through the postal mail (e.g., Levine et al 2005; Whalen et al 2004), and on the Internet (e.g., Gil-Rivas et al 2007).…”

“…While most media studies to date have examined television coverage (e.g., Holmes et al 2007; Hoven et al 2005; Kennedy et al 2004; Schuster et al 2001), others have examined other media forms as well (e.g., Duarte et al 2011; Ray and Malhi 2005; Saylor et al 2003). For example, Duarte et al (2011) studied the effect of Internet coverage (among other forms of media) after the September 11 attacks.…”

“…September 11 and Hurricane Katrina studies also have examined potentially confounding variables and employed more sophisticated research designs than earlier cross-sectional media studies. For example, temperament and pre-existing symptoms (Lengua et al 2005) and pre-existing family difficulties and maternal stress (Kennedy et al 2004), along with measures of media contact, have been identified as determinants of children’s outcomes.…”