This is mostly experienced in case where the trauma caused psychological disorders, phobias, and depression, and this may go as far as inhibiting the maturation process of the child and even interacting with the emerging personality. According to Newman (1976) three factors can be used to predict the psychological effects of disasters on children, these are; the child's developmental level, the child's perception about the family's response to the disaster, and the child's level of exposure to the traumatic experience. A number of studies on a child's reaction to disaster in relation to family's response have mainly concentrated on their mothers. A report by McFarlane (1987) indicated that post-traumatic symptoms in children who had been exposed to the Australian bushfires had a close relation to the anxiety of the mothers than to the exposure level. The family's reaction to and integration after the stressful experience is therefore one of the...
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