Post-traumatic stress disorder and behavioral problems of parents and children after the 2015 Nepal earthquakes

Abstract

This study examined the prolonged effects of parents’ PTSD and internalizing and externalizing problems on their children’s PTSD and internalizing and externalizing problems. The subjects were 200 pairs of Nepalese parents and children (aged 6–17 years) who had resided in refugee camps for 24 months following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. PTSD among the parents was measured using the Impact Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) while their behavioral problems were measured using the Adult Self-Report in Nepali (ASR). PTSD among the children was measured using the Parent Report of Post-traumatic Symptoms (PROPS) and the Child Report of Post-traumatic Symptoms (CROPS) while their behavioral problems were measured using the Nepali version of the Child Behavior Checklist 6-18 (CBCL 6-18). The results showed that approximately half of the parents and children exhibited PTSD symptoms and over half of the parents and children exhibited internalizing problems requiring clinical intervention. Correlation analysis found a relatively strong connection between the parents’ PTSD and behavioral problems and their children’s PTSD and behavioral problems. Finally, the study found that the children’s reported PTSD score increased as the parents’ education level increased, and the parents’ internalizing score decreased. Parental PTSD was a significant variable in explaining children’s internalizing problems. Given the more serious the parents’ PTSD, the higher the children’s internalizing problems score, the results highlight the need for proper intervention for the parent and child survivors of natural disasters such as earthquakes.

Keywords:

• Earthquake
• externalizing problems
• internalizing problems
• parent–child
• PTSD