Social connectedness: A potential aetiological factor in the development of child post-traumatic stress disorder

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate a new social connectedness factor and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children who experienced a cyclone disaster. METHOD: Three months post-disaster school-based screening for PTSD was conducted. 804 children (mean age = 10.22 years, SD = 1.24) participated. 12.0% of children reported severe or very severe PTSD symptoms. RESULTS: Low connected children, adjusted for age, gender and independent of cyclone exposure and threat perception, were 3.96 times more likely to experience severe to very severe PTSD. A structural model of child PTSD indicated that connectedness was the most important factor explaining variance in children's symptomatology. The final model accounted for 60% of the variance of child PTSD scores. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that child connectedness is a new, significant, independent factor in a model of post-disaster child PTSD. Connectedness may represent a vulnerability factor that can be targeted preventatively in children in disaster-prone regions. Conversely, a pre-disaster intervention that helps children develop high connectedness may have the potential to confer resilience.