Parents, children, and trauma: Parent role perceptions and behaviors related to the 9/11 tragedy

Abstract

The trauma associated with 9/11 affected and continues to influence children, families, and other groups of people. While research is cataloging the various coping difficulties experienced, few studies specifically address issues related to parenting perceptions and related activities or behaviors. We examined individuals employed in close proximity to Ground Zero and considered these individuals' perspectives regarding their parenting perceptions and behaviors. In addition to capturing parenting subsequent to 9/11, the researchers also asked participants about their parenting beliefs and behaviors prior to and immediately after 9/11. Additional variables, such as directly viewing 9/11 and participating in the evacuation, parent age and gender, child age and gender, and ethnicity, were considered in light of parenting beliefs and practices. The retrospective questions, while not ideal methodologically, reveal that some parent characteristics and behaviors changed immediately following 9/11 and subsequently returned to pre-9/11 levels, others changed and remain altered, while others stayed relatively stable over time. Implications of this research for further study as well as mental health practice related to children and families are presented.

Parenting After a Natural Disaster: A Qualitative Study of Norwegian Families Surviving the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia

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Mothers Reflect on How They Have Assisted Their Children to Cope with the Terrorist Attacks in Kenya

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Dyadic Trauma in Infancy and Early Childhood: Review of the Literature

“…Researchers in Israel have contributed extensively to the empirical literature through the study of the impact of war and terrorism on parents and their parenting, and on children themselves (see Fremont, 2004, for a review;Laor et al, 1996Laor et al, , 1997Laor et al, , 2001. In the United States, much valuable immediate and longterm follow-up research has been done on the effects of the September 11 attacks on infants (Yehuda et al, 2005), preschool children (Klein et al, 2009;Chemtob et al, 2008Chemtob et al, , 2010DeVoe et al, 2011), school-age children (Hoven et al, 2005;DeVoe et al, 2011;Gershoff, Aber, Ware, & Kotler, 2010;Kitzmann et al, 2004;Klein et al, 2009;Pfefferbaum, 2005;Covell et al, 2006), and their parents (Wilson, Lengua, Meltzoff, & Smith, 2010;Mowder, Guttman, Rubinson, & Sossin, 2007;Pfefferbaum, 2005;Kitzmann et al, 2004;Gershoff et al, 2010).…”