CCF Speaker Series Jon Comer Ph.D. 9-12-2014

Adjustment among Boston-Area Youth after the 2013 Marathon Bombing and Subsequent Manhunt Jon Comer, Ph.D. In recent years, there have been several high-profile terrorist attacks specifically targeting civilian child and family venues (e.g., Russia’s Beslan school hostage crisis, Norway’s Workers’ Youth League camp attack, Nairobi’s Westgate Mall attack). Although research has documented the psychological toll of terrorism on youth, the majority of such work has focused on attacks targeting office buildings of high symbolic value, where the presence of families has been incidental. Much remains to be learned about the reactions of children affected by terrorism specifically aimed at “soft targets” such as family events. The 2013 Boston Marathon bombing was a high-profile attack that specifically targeted a civilian family event. Moreover, the extraordinary post-attack manhunt and shelter-in-place made for a truly unprecedented experience. This talk will present findings from a recent study examining the adjustment of Boston-area youth (N=460) in the first 6 months following the attack. Analyses examined overall relationships between Marathon and manhunt exposures and children’s clinical outcomes, as well as media-based exposure and the influences of parental exposure and distress.

Jonathan S. Comer Ph.D., Professor or Psychology and Psychiatry, Florida International University

9/12/2014 4:00:00 PM