Children's Reactions to Traumatic Events (Article)

Most children need help from their parents, family, teachers, ministers or others with understanding their reactions after experiencing a disaster or traumatic event. Generally, their reactions subside in a few hours or days after they have effectively processed them. The following is a list of behaviors that if exhibited two to three weeks or longer after a traumatic event indicates a child’s need for additional support.  Compare the behavior to the way the child behaved prior to the tragedy to determine if the behavior is trauma related.

• Withdrawal (subdued, detached)
• Denial (avoidance, denial of facts and memories)
• Thematic play (re-enactment, play with the traumatic theme)
• Anxious attachment (clinging to parents and favorite objects, fearvof strangers)
• Fears (of violence, new situations, or a reoccurrence of the trauma)
• Regression (to behavior they found comfortable at a younger age)

• Performance decline (school, sports, hobbies)
• Incongruent feelings or moods (excited during quiet time)
• Behavior changes/problems (attention seeking or acting out behaviors)
• Psychosomatic complaints (stomach aches, headaches, bedwetting, nausea)

• Acting out behaviors (isolation, truancy, delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual activity, running away, suicidal comments/attempts)
• Low self-esteem and self-criticism (blame of self, condemning own reactions to the trauma, loss of control)
• “Too old, too fast”: (development of lifestyle activities too advanced for their age)
• Displaced anger (inappropriately onto others)

For more information on how to cope following trauma, give Best Care EAP a call. 

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Source: International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.