NIMH RESIDENTIAL FIRE STUDY: CASE STUDY EXAMINATIONS OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF FIRE ON CHILDREN/ADOLESCENTS AND THEIR PARENTS

PRESENTER: Russell T. Jones, Ph.D.

     Relatively little research effort has been focused on residential fires,
     even though the devastating consequences of fires and burns rank sixth among
     major causes of injury and death among persons from infancy to 19 years of
     age (Division of Injury Control, Center for Environmental Health and Injury
     Control, Centers for Disease Control, 1990). The potential negative consequences
     associated with fire on survivors' psychological functioning suggest the need
     for its systematic study (Bernstein, 1990; Jones & Haney, 1984; Jones, Ribbe, &
     Cunningham, 1994). Furthermore, identification of predictors of post-disaster
     functioning might provide important inroads into our understanding of this
     infrequently studied event and suggest possible treatment interventions. 
     Although children served as the primary target population in this study, 
     there was a need for the systematic examination of their parents' reactions t
     to the disaster as well. Research suggests that parents' reactions and their
     own psychological state are related to their children's adjustment following
     major disasters (Earls, Smith, Reich, & Jung, 1988; Green, Korol, Grace, Vary,
     Leonard, Gleser, & Smithson-Cohen, 1991).

     The primary purpose of the present investigation was to examine the impact 
     of residential fire on children and their parents: 1) in the context of a
     controlled, cross-sectional, longitudinal study, assessment of children's
     levels of psychological distress at 1-, 6-, and 12-month intervals using a
     multi-method assessment strategy; 2) ascertain the effects of family 
     atmosphere and parental functioning on children's level of psychological
     distress following a residential fire; and 3) using a stress and coping
     model context, identify predictors of the children's psychological distress
     following residential fire.

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