Abstract
Until now, there is little research on the experiences of indirectly exposed minors after terrorist attacks. This study sheds light on the emotions and questions of such indirectly exposed minors. A qualitative content analysis of secondary data gained from Awel, a youth-helpline, was performed until saturation. Data contained emotions and questions in chat conversations, with 30 minors (8–18 years old). Emotions included guilt, sadness, and especially fear of attacks on themselves, their family, or at school. Questions mostly focused on making sense of the attacks, and how to distinguish fantasy from reality. After an attack children and adolescents experienced a wide range of emotions, and seem to have difficulty to make sense of what happened. Teachers and parents can play an important role in buffering fears, and in offering contextual information and concrete answers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atwood, J. D., & Donnelly, J. W. (2002). The children’s war: Their reactions to devastating events. The Family Journal,10(1), 11–18.
Awel: Retrieved September 29, 2018, from https://awel.be/over-awel/anonimiteit.
Comer, J. S., Furr, J. M., Beidas, R. S., Babyar, H. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2008a). Media use and children’s perceptions of societal threat and personal vulnerability. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology,37(3), 622–630.
Comer, J. S., Furr, J. M., Beidas, R. S., Weiner, C. L., & Kendall, P. C. (2008b). Children and terrorism-related news: Training parents in coping and media literacy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,76(4), 568–578.
Coombe, J., Mackenzie, L., Munro, R., Hazell, T., Perkins, D., & Reddy, P. (2015). Teacher-mediated interventions to support child mental health following a disaster: a systematic review. PLoS Currents. https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.466c8c96d879e2663a1e5e274978965d.
Covell, N. H., Allen, G., Essock, S. M., Pease, E. A., Felton, C. J., Lanzara, C. B., et al. (2006). Service utilization and event reaction patterns among children who received project liberty counseling services. Psychiatric Services,57(9), 1277–1282.
Deschepper, R., Six, S., Gidron, Y., Depoorter, A. M., Vandekerckhove, M., Gheysens, N., et al. (2018). Association between feeling threatened by a terrorist attack and subjective health: a web survey a week after the attacks of 22 March 2016 in Belgium. European Journal of Psychotraumatology,9(1), 1500821.
Eisenberg, N., & Silver, R. C. (2011). Growing up in the shadow of terrorism: Youth in America After 9/11’. American Psychologist,66(6), 468–481.
Felix, E., Vernberge, E. M., Pfefferbaum, R. L., Gill, D. C., & Schorr, J. (2010). Schools in the shadow of terrorism: Psychosocial adjustment and interest in interventions following terrorist attacks. Psychology in the schools,47(6), 592–605.
Fremont, W. P. (2004). Childhood reactions to terrorism-induced trauma: A review of the past 10 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,43(4), 381–392.
Fremont, W. P., Pataki, C., & Beresin, E. V. (2005). The impact of terrorism on children and adolescents: Terror in the skies, terror on television. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America,14, 429–451.
Garrison, A. H. (2004). Defining terrorism: Philosophy of the bomb, propaganda by deed and change through fear and violence. A Critical Journal of Crime, Law and Society,17(3), 259–279.
Hoven, C. W., Duarte, C. S., Lucas, C. P., Wu, P., Mandell, D. J., Goodwin, R. D., et al. (2005). Psychopathology among New York city public school children 6 months after September 11. Archives of General Psychiatry,62(5), 545–552.
Johnston, M. P. (2014). Secondary data analysis: A method of which the time has come. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries,3, 619–626.
Landrum, A. R., Mills, C. M., & Johnston, A. M. (2013). When do children trust the expert? Benevolence information influences children’s trust more than expertise. Developmental Science,16(4), 622–638. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12059.
Lindert, J., Bilsen, J., & McKee, M. (2018). Terrorist attacks: A public health issue. European Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/cky139.
Mijanovich, T., & Weitzman, B. C. (2010). Disaster in context: The effects of 9/11 on youth distant from the attacks’. Community Mental Health Journal,46, 601–611.
Pfefferbaum, B., Pfefferbaum, R. L., Gurwitch, R. H., Nagumalli, S., Brandt, E. N., Robertson, M. J., et al. (2003a). Children’s response to terrorism: A critical review of the literature. Current Psychiatry Reports,5(2), 95–100.
Pfefferbaum, B., Sconzo, G. M., Flynn, B. W., Kearns, L. J., Doughty, D. E., Gurwitch, R. H., et al. (2003b). Case finding and mental health services for children in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research,30(2), 215–227.
Sutehall-Long, T., Squee, M., & Addington-Hall, J. (2010). Secondary analysis of qualitative data: A valuable method for exploring sensitive issues with an elusive population? Journal of Research in Nursing,16(4), 335–344.
Zimbardo, P., Johnson, R., & McCann, V. (2009). Psychology: Core concepts (6th ed.). United States: Pearson.
Acknowledgements
The data used in this article was gained from Awel.
Funding
This research is funded by Innoviris, the Brussels institute for research and innovation in Belgium (BRGPRO1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors state there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van Overmeire, R., Six, S., Vesentini, L. et al. Questions and Emotions of Minors After Terrorist Attacks: A Qualitative Study Using Data from a Belgian Youth-Helpline. Community Ment Health J 56, 280–286 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00482-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00482-w