Many Children Affected By Hurricanes Have Mental Health Problems

At least 46,600 Gulf Coast children are experiencing mental health problems and other serious aftereffects of the 2005 hurricanes, according to a study by the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the Children's Health Fund, the New York Times reports. For the study, researchers examined school enrollment statistics, data from the federal census and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and data from a study that has been following about 1,250 families displaced by the storms.

The study found that about 163,000 children were displaced by the hurricanes and that about 81,000 to 95,000 children have returned to Louisiana and Mississippi. Researchers estimate that 46,600 to 64,900 children are experiencing serious poststorm problems. The researchers' continuing study of Gulf Coast families found that nearly one-third of the children examined have developed depression, anxiety or behavior disorders since the hurricanes.

The children who are most at risk are those who have returned to their home states of Louisiana and Mississippi but lack stable living situations, according to the study. About 11,200 children were still living in FEMA trailers at government or private trailer parks at the end of September, but the number has been declining as the government begins closing the parks. In addition, many of the children have limited access to medical care, and many in Mississippi have lost health insurance and physicians, the report found.

Roberta Avila, executive director of the Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster Task Force, said, "We still have a lot of families in trailers, and the stress of living in that situation is really tough," adding that she is hearing increasing reports of problems with children ranging from trouble completing homework to suicides.

Irwin Redlener, president of the Children's Health Fund and director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia, said physicians treating children who survived Katrina "have been reporting just tremendous problems, especially the mental health providers." He added, "We are alarmed at the continuing downward trend, the longer the state of limbo continues" (Eaton, New York Times, 12/7).