Am J Psychiatry 1993; 150:87-92
Copyright © 1993 by American Psychiatric Association
Anticipatory stress in children and adolescents
L Kiser, J Heston, S Hickerson, P Millsap, W Nunn and D Pruitt
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Tennessee, Memphis 38105.
OBJECTIVE: Circumstances surrounding the New Madrid earthquake prediction
on Dec. 3, 1990, offered a unique opportunity to study the effects of a
disaster warning stage on children and adolescents. METHOD: An initial
structured interview was administered to 553 third- and 10th-grade students
before December 3, with follow-up interviews conducted 6-8 weeks later.
RESULTS: This study documents the existence of a mild but prevalent
PTSD-like reaction that arose from exposure to a prediction of disaster.
CONCLUSIONS: Further study of anticipatory stress reactions is needed to
provide insights into the development of methods for providing support to
children during disaster warnings.
