Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of research conducted on the emotional consequences of stress exposure in youth, focusing on the development of anxiety and related problems among youth exposed to disasters. An ecological needs-based perspective is used as a framework to review research on the effects of severe stress on anxiety and related disorders. The chapter focuses primarily on research with natural disasters, especially youth affected by Hurricane Katrina with an emphasis on long-term consequences (studies more than 1 year from the event). The research suggests that there are substantial effects of disaster exposure on youth. Researchers have also begun to define and identify multiple trajectories: chronicity, characterized by a sharp elevation in symptoms and functional impairment leading to chronic dysfunction; resilience or healthy adjustment, indicated by transient symptoms and minimal impairment; recovery, characterized by initial elevations in symptoms and distress that gradually decrease over months; and delayed distress, exemplified by moderate elevations in symptoms and distress following a traumatic event that gradually worsen over time. Data are emerging to identify factors at multiple levels of analysis associated with these different long-term outcomes.
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Correspondence concerning this chapter can be addressed to Carl F. Weems, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University, 2330C Palmer, Ames, IA 50011-4380, USA.
Electronic mail may be sent to cweems@iastate.edu
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Weems, C., Banks, D. (2015). Severe Stress and Anxiety Disorders in Adolescence: The Long-Term Effects of Disasters. In: Cherry, K. (eds) Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18866-9_10
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