21 - Mental Health Care for Children in the Wake of Disasters

Summary

Studies examining the transportability of efficacious treatments into community settings point to the vast differences between research and practice conditions. This chapter reviews the research literature on postdisaster trauma treatments for children and adolescents. The randomized controlled studies of trauma-focused (TF)-cognitive-behavioral treatments (CBT) with sexually abused children and the nonrandomized studies supporting cognitive-behavioral treatments suggest promising approaches for children affected by other types of trauma. The Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatments and Services (CATS) project extended these findings by demonstrating that these trauma-specific cognitive-behavioral approaches can be successful with youth exposed to a mass disaster. The study suggests that community clinicians can be trained effectively on CBT approaches even in postdisaster situations. To more fully advance the field of study, future investigations must find ways to employ a range of rigorous research designs that can provide some flexibility for examining delivery of targeted mental health interventions in postdisaster environments.