Dateline: May 14, 2002
Six months after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, 26.5% of New York City public school children are suffering with mental health problems severe enough to impair their normal functioning, researchers estimate. Another 5% of New York City children, in grades 9-12, have serious alcohol abuse problems. The majority of these children have neither sought nor received treatment for their problems.
The Study
The New York City Board of Education commissioned Applied Research and Consulting (ARC) to assess the mental health needs of New York City public school students six months after the terrorist attacks. Researchers from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the New York State Psychiatric Institute assisted with the study which was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also provided consultation along with experts from New York University and Yale University.
Researchers conducted the needs assessment survey using questionnaires. A representative sample of 8,266 New York City public school students in grades 4-12 from 94 schools took part in the survey. To reflect the actual population of all New York City public school students in these grades, researchers weighted the final results, thus giving a true picture of the mental health needs of all students. Children in grades K-3 were not included because different assessment tools are needed for this age group.
The Results
The results of the study show that 26.5% of New York City public school children (nearly 190,000) in grades 4-12 are suffering from at least one mental health problem severe enough to impair normal daily functioning with an additional 5.1% in grades 9-12 having an alcohol abuse problem. The rates of mental health problems among these students were higher than expected based on previous research findings. Because there weren't any studies of all of these disorders among NYC public school students prior to September 11th, the researchers compared their findings with those of the 1996 NIMH-MECA study on mental health problems in children from four other communities.
The following shows the percentage of NYC students estimated to have each of the disorders six months after the terrorist attacks. In parenthesis are the findings of the NIMH-MECA study prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder: 10.5% (2% prior to 9/11)
- Agoraphobia: 15% (5% prior to 9/11)
- Separation anxiety: 12.3% (6% prior to 9/11)
- Generalized anxiety: 10.3% (8% prior to 9/11)
- Conduct disorder: 10.9% (4% prior to 9/11)
- Major depression: 8.4% (6% prior to 9/11)
- Alcohol abuse: 5.1% (grades 9-12 only) (3% prior to 9/11)
Psychiatric problems were not limited to students attending school near Ground Zero; the impact could be seen citywide.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
In the first report issued by the NYC Board of Education based on these findings, researchers focused on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), estimated to be affecting 75,000 NYC public school children since September 11. Of those children suffering from PTSD, at least two-thirds have neither sought nor received any kind of mental health treatment, either from school counselors or those outside of school. While almost 11% of NYC school children are estimated to have PTSD, nearly 90% of students in the study reported at least one PTSD symptom.
Those who were most at risk for PTSD included the following:
- Children in grades 4-5 (compared with grades 6-12)
- Children with personal physical exposure or family exposure to the attacks
- Females
- Children who had experienced traumatic events before September 11
- Hispanic or mixed/other ethnicity
Reference: Effects of the World Trade Center Attack on NYC Public School Students: Initial Report to the New York City Board of Education. May 6, 2002.
