Young Children Respond to 9/11

Faculty member Ellen DeVoe is exploring the complexity of responses to the events of 9-11-01 among parents and their children ages 5 and younger in New York City.

The program, an outgrowth of the New York City Young Children’s Project funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, also assesses families’ identified needs for support and intervention.

DeVoe is using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to illuminate the differential effects of level of traumatization upon parents and young children, changes in parenting, and the relationship between presumed changes in parenting and child outcomes since the disaster. The research will also identify the needs of day-care providers and teachers as they develop long-term responses to the disaster.