Kathleen O. Nader

Children's Memory and Proximity to Violence

The study examined 133 school-age childrens memory of a sniper attack at their elementary school. Researchers analyzed the role that spatial representation, memory markers, inner plans of action, and strategies of recall played in the memory process. In recalling the event, exposed children reduced their degree of life threat, while nonexposed children increased their proximity to the violence. Clinical and forensic implications are discussed.

Stress responses after pediatric bone marrow transplantation: preliminary results of a prospective longitudinal study.

This paper reports the preliminary findings of a longitudinal prospective study of young children undergoing bone marrow transplantation. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress were seen in these children up to 12 months after transplant. The bone marrow transplantation survivors demonstrated more denial and avoidance and fewer arousal symptoms than has been noted in children traumatized by a violent life threat, such as a sniper attack. These data suggest the use of post-traumatic stress as a model in understanding some of the symptoms of pediatric bone marrow transplantation survivors and may be applicable to other children exposed to the double life threat of serious illness and intensive medical intervention.

Children who witness the sexual assaults of their mothers.

Abstract This paper examines the traumatic responses of 10 children who witnessed the sexual assaults of their mothers and presents five case examples. With the use of a specialized parent questionnaire, interview format, and reaction index, researchers found that the children exhibited prominent post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, disturbances in aggression and sexuality, alterations in their sense of security and vulnerability, challenged self-esteem, stress in intrafamilial and peer relationships, and changes in future orientation. These reactions are similar to those of sexually abused children and indicate that child witnesses need special therapeutic attention.

The suppression of reexperiencing: Impulse control and somatic symptoms in children following traumatic exposure

Abstract This study examines the relationship between reexperiencing phenomena and symptoms of arousal following exposure to traumatic events. For a sample of 51 Kuwaiti children exposed to the Gulf Crisis, administration of the Childrens Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (CPTSD-RI) demonstrated that, within severity levels of traumatic response, there was an inverse relationship between reexperiencing and arousal symptoms, including problems with impulse control and somatic complaints. Although adolescents had higher levels of difficulty with impulse control following the crisis, the inverse relationship between reexperiencing and problems with impulse control was present even after partialling out the effects of age. Kuwaiti children who reported problems with impulse control were more likely to have been involved in agression toward others during the Iraqi occupation. This study lends credence to the hypothesis that the suppression of reexperiencing phenomena in children may result in incr...

Appraisal of life threat and acute trauma responses in pediatric bone marrow transplant patients

Although traumatic responses in children are well-documented following exposure to a variety of life-threatening circumstances, little is known about the subjective appraisal of children during the acute exposure. This paper presents both descriptive and quantifiable data regarding the responses of children during the acute phase of hospitalization for bone marrow transplantation, an extremely aggressive treatment for otherwise fatal illnesses. Children were able to appreciate the life-threatening nature of their illness and its treatment. They reported few symptoms consistent with a traumatic stress response. These findings are in contrast to recent data on survivors of childhood cancer, who generally report that they did not understand that their illness posed a threat to their lives, while reporting moderate levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms up to 10 years after completion of successful treatment. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Parent-child interactions with pediatric bone marrow transplant patients

Interactions between parents and young children undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT) were investigated in a prospective, longitudinal study. The parents of six children ages 3 years, 9 months, to 6 years, 9 months, were assessed for patterns of coping and for parental responsiveness using the Family Interaction Q-Sort within a week before the transplant and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after the transplant. Preliminary results showed that parental responsiveness remained stable across time. When parental responsiveness was compared with the childrens symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), lower parental responsiveness was associated with fewer symptoms of PTSD and higher responsiveness was associated with more symptoms. The relation between low FTSD scores and less responsive parenting may be explained by lack of parental support, which contributed to the childs nonadaptive behavior toward BMT, resulting in underreporting of symptoms by the child. The mediators of parental responsiveness w...