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The experiences of children related to conflict and crisis management in child mental health settings, especially those aged 12 and below, have been rarely studied. This study examined the moral experiences of children related to conflict and crisis management and the related use of restraint and seclusion in a child mental health setting. A 5-month focused ethnography using a participatory hermeneutic framework was conducted in a day hospital programme for children with severe disruptive disorders within a mental health institute. Children considered restraints and seclusion could help them feel safe in certain instances, for example if another child was being aggressive towards them or in exceptional cases to prevent self-injury. However, their own experiences of being restrained were predominantly negative, especially if not knowing the reason for their use, which they then found unfair. Some of the children emphasized the punitive nature of the use of restraints and seclusion, and most children disagreed with these practices when used as a punishment. Children's perspectives also highlighted the limits of the use of a uniform de-escalation approach by the staff to manage crises. Children considered discussing with the staff and developing a relationship with them as more helpful in case of a crisis then the use of a de-escalation approach or coercive strategies.

• Cognitive processing and meaning theories suggest that a patient’s psychological adjustment following a traumatizing event depends on an ability to cognitively integrate the trauma event and restore a sense of meaning in life. These processes may be facilitated by using coping strategies such as sharing concerns, mobilizing support, and reframing. • A correlational study explored the magnitude of the relationships between psychological adjustment, cognitive processing, sense of meaning, and coping strategies in critically injured patients 3 months after a potentially life‐threatening injury. • Fifty‐one critically injured patients completed the Brief Symptom Inventory, Bradburn’s Psychological Well‐Being Scale, Impact of Events Scale, the Meaning‐of‐Illness Questionnaire, and Family Crisis‐Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale in face‐to‐face interviews 8–12 weeks after the accident. Bivariate and partial correlation coefficients were used to test the main hypothesis, and Pearson correlation coefficients, to address the three research questions. • The main hypothesis that psychological adjustment will be significantly related to cognitive processing, sense of meaning, and use of coping strategies in critically injured patients 3 months after the accident was partially upheld. • Depressive symptomatology was found to be significantly associated with increased cognitive processing efforts and a decreased ability to acknowledge the accident’s negative effects on the self. • In contrast, psychological well‐being was found to be significantly associated with decreased cognitive processing efforts and an increased ability to acknowledge the accident’s negative effects on the self. • Restoring a sense of meaning, however, was found to be unrelated to sharing concerns, mobilizing support and re‐framing. The potential theoretical and clinical implications of the findings for nursing practice are discussed.

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