Challenges in building child and family resilience after disasters

The frequency and intensity of major disasters have been increasing over the past decade. Over 175 million youth are affected by disasters each year with increased vulnerability that often receives insufficient attention. The impact of displacement, loss of homes, and separation from families and community has a significant effect on children including risk of interrupting their developmental trajectory. Response and recovery for children after catastrophic events depends on degree of exposure, previous trauma history, age, gender, and, importantly, support by family, school, and community. In disaster response, more attention is given to addressing problems than supporting components leading to increased self-efficacy and resilience. This article presents a dynamic understanding of ways to support resilience in children and adolescents following disasters by considering not only the capacity for positive adaptation to threats, but also ways to strengthen social infrastructure at the community level. A program integrating mental health consultation and services into schools following disasters is described to support resilience by building social capital. Trajectories of posttraumatic stress symptoms in children following disasters will be presented that are consistent with resilience theory. Emphasis is placed on both individual and community resilience efforts with disasters to support youth recovery.