Assessment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children and Adolescents Surviving the El Haouz Earthquake: A Study of 69 Cases

Psychological stress following a natural disaster is common. Despite numerous earthquakes worldwide, data on acute stress assessment in child victims early in the post-disaster period are scarce. Immediately after the devastating earthquake (6.9 Richter) in El Hawz, Marrakech region, on September 8, 2023, at 11:07 PM, the child psychiatry department mobilized through an emergency response team that went to the site to support children and adolescents affected by the earthquake. At the end of our intervention, we conducted a cross-sectional study over a week, including 69 children presenting unusual physical or behavioral symptoms. The Children Impact of Event Scale (CIES) was used for stress screening. This study represents the first Moroccan data showing a statistically significant psychological impact and various forms of physical stress symptoms in young children (1-8 years) following the Marrakech earthquake.