An Iowa State University study finds traumatic events like natural disasters or terrorist attacks can have a profound impact on children a world away. Carl Weems, an I-S-U professor and chair of human development and family studies, says this week’s pop concert bombing in England where children were killed is a prime example.

“We’re looking at how perceptions of competence, or self-efficacy, predicts who does well after something like that,” Weems says. “We found that perceptions of competence were protective of developing PTSD symptoms, but we also found that exposure to those kinds of events can diminish perceptions of competence.”

Weems says parents and teachers should not try to shield children when bad things happen, but instead work to help kids build up their confidence to handle coping with events. “Perceptions of competence are really important for a sense of — if you think you can do it, then you are typically better at accomplishing things. If you feel like you have the competency, the skills and abilities to get things done, then you tend to get things done.”

Weems says adults need to be there for the children and enable them to understand what’s happening during a crisis. “It’s important to help kids process this information,” he says. “You typically can’t hide kids from seeing it on TV and it’s important to process it with them and assure them that the family or the school or whatever has plans in place to deal with those kinds of things.”

Given the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast in 2005 and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, Weems worked with professors at Louisiana State University on this study, which was published in the latest edition of the Applied Developmental Science academic journal.

(Radio Iowa)