Disasters and Their Impact on Child Development: Introduction to the Special Section

Disasters touch the lives of millions of children every year in many forms. These include natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, or floods; human-made disasters of armed conflict, genocide, industrial accidents, or terrorism; and disease outbreaks. Interest in the impact of disasters on children among scientists dates back decades to the beginnings of research into risk and resilience in development (Garmezy, 1985; Garmezy & Rutter, 1983). For many years, only a small number of scattered studies of disasters were published on young people, often in the wake of a major catastrophe, such as the Buffalo Creek disaster (Erikson, 1978; Green et al., 1991; Newman, 1976), World War II and the Holocaust (Freud & Burlingham, 1943; Moscovitz, 1985), or a major fire (McFarlane, 1987). In the beginning of the 21st century, with the rise in international terrorism, concerns about flu pandemic, an alarming sequence of natural and human-designed disasters around the world, and globalization of media coverage, there is increasing attention to the consequences of disaster for children and youth (La Greca, Silverman, Vernberg, & Roberts, 2002; Masten & Obradovic, 2008; Osofsky, Osofsky, & Harris, 2007; Sagi-Schwarz, Seginer, & Abdeen, 2008). Research into disasters has accelerated despite inherent difficulties in conducting research in the context of catastrophic events. Given the importance of understanding how different types of disasters may impact development for children and families, it was timely to devote a special section of this journal to the impact of disasters on child development. The goal of the special section on disasters and child development was to provide an opportunity for researchers around the world to examine how disasters of nature and human design might affect children of different ages, experiences, cultures, and contexts, as well as how exposure to a disaster may alter developmental processes or developmental trajectories. Potential contributors were invited to submit a letter of intent by January 15, 2008, and 67 letters for different possible contributions were received. We invited 39 potential contributors to submit full manuscripts for review by May 1, 2008. The 15 articles comprising this special section represent 22% of the submitted letters of intent and 45% of the manuscripts that were submitted for review. The process of review was complicated by the diversity of the submissions in terms of disaster types and contexts, ages of disaster victims, nationality of authors, disciplinary approach, methods, and focus of the articles (e.g., empirical, conceptual, review, commentary). As editors for this special section, we strove to capture a broad representation of contemporary international scholarship from among the submissions that would reflect the diversity in the field. We were well aware of the challenges of conducting research in the context of disaster (discussed further below) and the constraints posed by ethical and practical dilemmas. In some cases, a study represents rare data obtained by methods that may not meet typical standards of scientific rigor because of the study context (e.g., naturalistic studies in the field or remote locations after a disaster). In all cases, we based the editorial decisions on our judgment of the potential value and unique contribution of the article in the context of current knowledge. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ann S. Masten, University of Minnesota, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, or Joy D. Osofsky, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 1542 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112. Electronic mail may be sent to amasten@ umn.edu or josofs@lsuhsc.edu. Child Development, July/August 2010, Volume 81, Number 4, Pages 1029–1039