Children’s disaster trauma in Haiti: Configurations of similarities and dissimilarities in experiences.

Abstract

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti, an urgent crisis, occurred in the context of persistent social dysfunctions, amplifying both the chronic poor living conditions and adversities for children and families. The present study sought to gain better understanding of the ways Haitian children respond during times of adversity. The House-Tree-Person (HTP) drawing test, culturally adapted for Haitians (Roysircar et al., 2017(Roysircar et al., , 2019a(Roysircar et al., , 2019b, was used to assess Resilience and Vulnerability in 75 Haitian children's 225 drawings to map the spatial configurations of their trauma experiences in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake and continuous trauma. Assessment data also included interviews with child self-report measures of self-esteem perceived by self, peers, and family; posttraumatic symptoms; and self-concept. Data analyses involved standardization of sample scores and reliability tests. Classical multidimensional scaling (MDS) examined relationships among variables of resilience, vulnerability, self-esteem, posttraumatic symptoms, and self-concept. MDS stress was reduced considerably with two dimensions, and there was minimal further reduction in stress with three or more dimensions. Furthermore, the two latent dimensions in Haitian children's mental health, called Feeling Unloved and Balance of Good and Evil, were interpretable within the conceptualization of the study and the literature on Haitians' and other disaster survivors' adaptive worldview. The authors' long-term investment in the people of Haiti increased trust, participation, research rigor, and cultural alignment of interventions, including the adaption of the HTP as a culturally sensitive and clinically useful instrument. Impact StatementThe 2010 earthquake in Haiti, an urgent crisis, occurred in the context of persistent social dysfunctions, amplifying both the chronic poor living conditions and adversities for children and families. The present study sought to gain a better understanding of the ways children in Haiti respond during times of adversity. Two dissimilar configurations of experience were revealed: Feeling Unloved (vulnerability) and Balance of Good and Evil (resilience).

Transnational Counseling for Mass Trauma

“…Patients come from the most impoverished areas of Haiti, some arriving on foot and others spending 3 hours on public transportation (i.e., the tap–tap bus) from remote villages to take advantage of the services provided. The Multicultural Center of the university partnered with PID since 2010 for disaster mental health services and trauma assessment research (Bowman & Roysircar, 2011; Roysircar, 2013; Roysircar & O’Grady, 2021; Roysircar et al, 2013; Roysircar, Colvin et al, 2017; Roysircar, Geisinger et al, 2019; Roysircar, Thompson et al, 2019).…”

“…The author postulated that hope in tomorrow reflected an overall trust in God’s control over participants’ lives and fate. Haitians also have an empowering collective history of overcoming their colonial oppressors and other adversities (Roysircar & O’Grady, 2021).…”

The Self-Concept of Earthquake Victims: Phenomenology in the Village Community of Nagrak, Cianjur, West Java

“…A mother sobbed as she recounted the seconds when the earthquake occurred along with the disappearance of her child who was later found dead (Nur, 2023;Roysircar, 2021;Ren et al, 2018). Not to mention a father who lost his wife and child, and a mother who told a sad story when she found her child crying, because the child lost all his family members (Satria et al, 2019;Washington, 2013).…”