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Review of Coping in Children Exposed to Mass Trauma: Measurement Tools, Coping Styles, and Clinical Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2016

Betty Pfefferbaum ,
Pascal Nitiéma ,
Anne K. Jacobs ,
Mary A. Noffsinger ,
Leslie H. Wind  and
Sandra F. Allen
Betty Pfefferbaum*
Affiliation:
Terrorism and Disaster Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA
Pascal Nitiéma
Affiliation:
Terrorism and Disaster Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA
Anne K. Jacobs
Affiliation:
Terrorism and Disaster Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA
Mary A. Noffsinger
Affiliation:
Terrorism and Disaster Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA Courtroom Sciences, Inc., Irving, Texas, USA
Leslie H. Wind
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Orange County Academic Center, University of Southern California, Irvine, CaliforniaUSA
Sandra F. Allen
Affiliation:
Terrorism and Disaster Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaUSA
*
Correspondence: Betty Pfefferbaum, MD, JD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences College of Medicine University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center P.O. Box 26901, WP 3417 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA 73126-0901 E-mail: betty-pfefferbaum@ouhsc.edu
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Abstract

Evidence-based practice requires the use of data grounded in theory with clear conceptualization and reliable and valid measurement. Unfortunately, developing a knowledge base regarding children’s coping in the context of disasters, terrorism, and war has been hampered by a lack of theoretical consensus and a virtual absence of rigorous test construction, implementation, and evaluation. This report presents a comprehensive review of measurement tools assessing child and adolescent coping in the aftermath of mass trauma, with a particular emphasis on coping dimensions identified through factor analytic procedures. Coping measurement and issues related to the assessment of coping are reviewed. Concepts important in instrument development and psychometric features of coping measures used in disasters, terrorism, and war are presented. The relationships between coping dimensions and both youth characteristics and clinical outcomes also are presented. A discussion of the reviewed findings highlights the difficulty clinicians may experience when trying to integrate the inconsistencies in coping dimensions across studies. Incorporating the need for multiple informants and the difference between general and context-specific coping measures suggests the importance of a multilevel, theoretical conceptualization of coping and thus, the use of more advanced statistical measures. Attention also is given to issues deemed important for further exploration in child disaster coping research.

PfefferbaumB, NitiémaP, JacobsAK, NoffsingerMA, WindLH, AllenSF. Review of Coping in Children Exposed to Mass Trauma: Measurement Tools, Coping Styles, and Clinical Implications. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(2):169–180.

Keywords

childrencopingcoping instrumentsdisastersfactor analysismass traumameasurement
Type
Comprehensive Review
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 169 - 180
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2016 

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