Schools in the shadow of terrorism: Psychosocial adjustment and interest in interventions following terror attacks

Following terrorist events, teachers and nonteaching school personnel are important in helping children recover, yet little is known about their willingness to assist with this. We surveyed 399 employees from a Washington, D.C.‐area school district following terror attacks (September 11, 2001, attac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology in the schools 2010-07, Vol.47 (6), p.592-605
Main Authors: Felix, Erika, Vernberg, Eric M., Pfefferbaum, Rose L., Gill, Dodie C., Schorr, John, Boudreaux, Angela, Gurwitch, Robin H., Galea, Sandro, Pfefferbaum, Betty
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior Change
Behavior Modification
Behavioural changes
Biological and medical sciences
District of Columbia
Educational psychology
Emergency Programs
Emotional Adjustment
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Intervention
Interviews
Measures (Individuals)
Medical sciences
Mental health
Miscellaneous
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Prediction
Prevention. Health policy. Planification
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychosocial adjustment
Psychosocial intervention
Regression (Statistics)
School Personnel
Social Adjustment
Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry
Student Problems
Surveys
Symptoms
Teachers
Terrorism
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Summary:Following terrorist events, teachers and nonteaching school personnel are important in helping children recover, yet little is known about their willingness to assist with this. We surveyed 399 employees from a Washington, D.C.‐area school district following terror attacks (September 11, 2001, attacks; sniper shootings) about their exposure, adjustment, interest, and involvement in psychosocial interventions. Between 10% and 27% experienced one or more symptoms of posttraumatic stress (depending on category of symptom) in the month prior to the survey. Regression analyses revealed that peritraumatic distress, behavior change, and posttraumatic growth predicted interest in information on psychosocial interventions. Feeling prepared, adaptively managing work responsibilities, and perceiving an increase in student problems were related to intervening with students. Implications for school preparedness are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:0033-3085
1520-6807
DOI:10.1002/pits.20493