Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents of the Armenian earthquake

  • Articles
  • Published:
Child Psychiatry and Human Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The impact of the Armenian earthquake of 1988 on children and adolescents screened through the National Mental Health Research Center in Spitak, Armenia, is discussed. The earthquake caused close to 20,000 deaths, almost two-thirds of which were children and adolescents. Clinical data which address advances in understanding the diagnostic indicators and resulting psychopathology in victims of the Armenian earthquake are presented. Current theory about the processing of trauma in children and adolescents is reviewed, with recommendations for future research in this area.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Terr LC. Childhood traumas: An outline and Overview.American Journal of Psychiatry 148(1):10–20, 1991.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Pynoos RF, Nader F. Life threat and posttraumatic stress in school-age children.Archives of General Psychiatry 44:1057–1063, 1987.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Green BL, Korol MG, Smith MC, et al. Children and disaster: Age, gender, and parental effects of PTSD symptoms.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 30(6):945–951, 1991.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Horowitz M. “Stress Response Syndromes and Brief Psychotherapy.” Strecker Monograph Series, No. 14, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Hospital, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Miller TW, Veltkamp LJ. Effects of multigenerational sexual abuse in rural America.International Journal of Family Psychiatry 9(3):259–275, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Miller TW, Basoglu M. Post-traumatic stress disorder: The impact of life stress events on adjustment.Integrative Psychiatry 44:209–217, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Terr L. What happens to the memories of early childhood trauma?Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 27:96–104, 1988.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Wilson J, Smith W, Johnson S. A comparative analysis of PTSD among various survivor groups. InTrauma and Its Wake, ed. Figley, C. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Annex II, University of Kentucky Medical Center, 40536-0080, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

    Thomas W. Miller PhD (Professor)

  2. University of Kentucky, Kentacky, USA

    Robert F. Kraus MD

  3. Academy of Medical Sciences, Yerevan, Armenia

    Adel Semyonova Tatevosyan MD

  4. Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    Peter Kamenchenko MD

Authors
  1. Thomas W. Miller PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert F. Kraus MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Adel Semyonova Tatevosyan MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peter Kamenchenko MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Research for this article was supported in part by a grant from the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), with funds provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Department of State.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Miller, T.W., Kraus, R.F., Tatevosyan, A.S. et al. Post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents of the Armenian earthquake. Child Psych Hum Dev 24, 115–123 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02367264

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02367264

Key words

Search

Navigation