Working with parents to support children after disasters

What is this resource about?

Disasters can profoundly disrupt the foundations of everyday life for children, impacting their wellbeing, health and development. Families, particularly parents, have an important role in understanding and supporting their children’s needs during and after a disaster. However, parents may also be affected by their disaster experience, the stress of competing priorities and the challenges of disaster recovery. It is critical for practitioners to support parents to mitigate the disruptions disasters cause in the everyday lives of children and families.

Practitioners have reported feeling uncertain about where to start when working with parents to support their children after disasters. This paper identifies strategies for engaging with parents and using a holistic approach that recognises and tailors support to each family’s unique needs, to enhance the wellbeing, resilience and recovery of infants and children who experience disasters.

Who is this resource for?

This practice paper is for anyone who is currently supporting, or may be required to support, infants, children, parents and/or families after a disaster.

This includes practitioners and workers, leaders and volunteers in:

• health services
• social and community services
• education
• first response and emergency services
• government (policymaking and agencies)
• non-government organisations
• community-led initiatives.

For ease of reading, we will refer to individuals in all these roles as ‘practitioners’.

Definitions

The terms ‘children’, ‘parents’ and ‘practitioners’ are used throughout this resource and we define them in the following ways:

Children: includes newborn infants, babies and children up to 12 years old.

Parents: the biological, adoptive, foster and kinship carers of a child, as well as individuals who have chosen to take up primary or shared responsibility in raising that child.

Practitioners: all individuals with a role that involves or might involve supporting infants, children, parents, families and/or communities in the context of a disaster of any kind.

Key messages

• Disasters can deeply disrupt children’s wellbeing, health and development, with potentially long-lasting effects if not addressed.
• Children’s recovery is greatly influenced by the stability and support provided by caring adults, including their parents and the broader community.
• A child’s response to a disaster is shaped by their whole ecological context, including family relationships and community interactions. Disruptions to this ecology increase vulnerabilities, making holistic family support essential.
• Effective engagement with parents involves reducing stress through practical support and creating a foundation for addressing deeper family needs.
• Effective parental support involves helping parents prioritise their own wellbeing. Parents who take care of their own health are better able to support their children through disaster recovery.
• Support should be flexible and responsive, adapting to families’ evolving needs to promote long-term recovery and resilience.
• The PERCS approach facilitates respectful, collaborative conversations with parents, focusing on disasters’ impacts on family dynamics and support systems.
• A holistic approach, considering both parent and child experiences, promotes balanced recovery and strengthens family resilience.
• A strengths-based, collaborative approach enhances parental wellbeing and family dynamics, which are crucial for effective disaster recovery.

Disasters can disrupt the foundations of everyday life for individuals, families and entire communities (Gibbs et al., 2014). In Australia, children and families are at growing risk of experiencing disasters, such as bushfires, floods and pandemics. The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters – and the potential for concurrent (around the same time), consecutive (one after the other) and cascading (interrelated) disaster events – compounds the recovery challenges families may experience.

The impacts of disasters on children can be profound, affecting their wellbeing, health and development in multiple ways. Disasters can lead to physical injuries, exacerbate existing health conditions and cause significant psychological stress, manifesting as anxiety, depression and behavioural changes. The interruption of daily routines, loss of safe spaces and separation from supportive relationships can hinder children’s developmental progress and emotional stability.

Importantly, children who experience disasters can and do recover with the support of caring and responsive adults. Supportive relationships with parents, educators and other important people in children’s lives, play a crucial role in helping children navigate the challenges brought on by such events.

Through stable relationships, consistent routines and emotional support, adults can reduce the adverse effects of disasters and foster resilience in children. Parents, in particular, can provide comfort, reassurance and practical assistance that helps children make sense of their experiences, cope with stress and gradually return to a sense of normality. By actively engaging with children and addressing their specific needs, parents contribute significantly to their recovery and overall wellbeing.

A supportive family environment can be a protective factor for the adverse effects of disasters on children. Parents serve as the primary sources of comfort and reassurance, helping children process their experiences and emotions. The emotional and psychological support provided by a warm, consistent presence helps children regain a sense of stability and safety.

In this video (5 minutes, 8 seconds) child psychotherapist Ruth Wraith discusses how parent–child relationships are key to helping children feel safe and secure, and how disasters can affect parent–child relationships.

However, disasters can affect the child and family’s normal activities, interrupt social relationships, and alter access to the usual physical, emotional, social and financial resources. Simultaneously, disasters can create competing priorities for parents, stretching their capacity and available resources to respond effectively to these disruptions (Kosta et al., 2021). As the family’s approach and response to these disruptions is critical to the resilience and wellbeing of its members (Walsh, 2016a), it is essential to strengthen parents’ capacity to navigate these challenges and promote child and family wellbeing through a collaborative, strengths-based approach (Ungar, 2010).

Hence, engaging with parents is paramount in supporting children and the entire family after a disaster. Supporting parents enhances their ability to see and meet the multifaceted needs of their children following a disaster – not only their children’s immediate physical and emotional needs but also the ongoing attention and care they need to foster long-term resilience and recovery.

Effective engagement with parents includes providing them with the necessary tools and resources to support their own wellbeing, their children’s wellbeing and their family’s functioning, as well as practical support to cope with and recover from the disaster.

It’s common for parents to struggle with their own emotional and psychological challenges after a disaster. A family-focused approach means addressing the wellbeing of parents, recognising that their capacity to care for their children is influenced by their own mental health and coping abilities. By supporting and partnering with parents, practitioners can create a supportive network that enhances the overall resilience of the family unit.

This paper explores various strategies for partnering with parents to support their children after disasters. These strategies emphasise the importance of building strong, trusting relationships with families, providing tailored support based on their unique needs and circumstances and promoting a strengths-based approach that empowers parents. It is also crucial to offer support that aligns with each family’s timeline and immediate needs. For example, in the initial days and weeks after a disaster, practical help often takes precedence over therapeutic interventions to effectively address the challenges families face. By focusing on the whole family and providing the right support at the right time, we can create a foundation for resilience and recovery that benefits all members, including infants and children.

A child’s response to a disaster is profoundly shaped by their parents and the broader ecological context surrounding them. This ‘ecology’ includes biological, social, relational and environmental factors such as relationships with family members, interactions in their living and learning environments, and events in their neighbourhood and community. Disasters can disrupt this ecology, straining the support systems vital to a child’s wellbeing.

The concept of ‘cumulative vulnerability’ describes how pre-existing psychological, physical and educational challenges can compound, leading to more severe outcomes when a disaster occurs (Fothergill & Peek, 2015). Children in communities already facing health and social inequities may experience greater distress due to these compounded vulnerabilities, but they also possess unique strengths and coping mechanisms that can be harnessed for recovery. For example, a child with a history of adversity or living in a high-risk environment might face more significant challenges during and after a disaster, but with the right support, children have a remarkable capacity for recovery. Therefore, understanding and addressing each child’s unique ecology – both before and after the disaster – is crucial for developing effective support strategies and promoting resilience.

To support children effectively, it is essential to consider their unique risk factors and protective factors throughout the disaster cycle – before, during and after the event. This comprehensive approach ensures that interventions are tailored to each child’s specific needs and circumstances. Further insights into the factors influencing children’s wellbeing, health and development outcomes can be found in Understanding how disasters influence infants and children.

Central to these protective factors are the child’s relationships, particularly with their parents. While disasters are potentially traumatic events that can adversely affect children’s physical and mental health, parents can reduce the impact of harms and support their child’s recovery. Secure attachments formed through strong, stable relationships with trusted, responsive adults significantly influence children’s health and development outcomes, both in day-to-day life and during crises (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2016; National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2015). In the uncertainty of disaster, children rely on caregivers for stability, safety and emotional support. Consistent, nurturing care from parents and other important adults is a critical protective factor, minimising and aiding recovery from the emotional and psychological impacts of potentially traumatic events (Gibbs et al., 2014; Pfefferbaum et al., 2015).

Supporting the child and their ‘whole ecology’ is crucial for promoting recovery. A child’s family, educators and community members have vital roles in their recovery. Ensuring that community support systems are adequately resourced helps parents and other adults to effectively respond to children’s needs after disasters. It is important to avoid increasing the perceived burden on parents by overemphasising their responsibility to be strong and resilient without providing adequate support. The guilt and stress felt by parents can be profound, hence the need to support both caregivers and children.

Supportive, nurturing relationships are fundamental to children’s positive social and emotional development and growth. For children who experience a disaster, these relationships help them navigate the potential adversities and challenges, promoting resilience and minimising the negative impacts on their mental health and wellbeing (Gibbs et al., 2015).

Focusing on the parent–child relationship

The parent–child relationship can influence the child’s social emotional wellbeing and mental health in both helpful and unhelpful ways. The following animation (3 minutes, 49 seconds) demonstrates how interactions with parents can shape the social-emotional wellbeing of children in day-to-day life.

When families encounter a disaster, the whole family can experience interactions between disaster-related difficulties and stressors they were already facing before the event.

Consider how the elements of the parent–child relationship animation may present in the context of a disaster.

Parent and family difficulties

Disasters can place great stress on families, disrupting daily life and limiting their access to physical, emotional and social resources (Gibbs et al., 2015). Families may experience significant losses such as loss of life, housing, employment, belongings and/or security.

Parenting stress

Disasters can create competing priorities for parents, which stretch their capacity to respond to the disruptions in the family’s daily life. At the same time, parents also experience their own responses to the disaster, which might influence their cognition, physiology, mood, emotional energy and behaviour (Australian Red Cross et al., 2020). They may experience:

• reduced concentration and difficulty in decision-making
• feelings like fear, anger, sadness and hopelessness
• a heightened perception of threat
• low energy levels
• increases in problematic substance use; or
• more irritability and less patience.

These responses and the competing demands of disaster recovery can make it hard to focus on their parenting role and alter their capacity to see and be available to respond to their children and family’s needs (Kosta et al., 2021). Not being able to be the parent they would like to be may also elicit a shame, stigma or guilt response in the parent, which can create a further ripple effect, compounding their stress.

Child response

While all family members may experience a disaster, each family member carries their own unique experience of it (Kiliç et al., 2003).

An infant or child’s response to a disaster is shaped by the event, their own attributes (e.g. temperament, age, coping style) and the responses of people around them (Cobham et al., 2016; Hu et al., 2018).

Similar to the impacts on adults, disasters might influence a child’s cognition, physiology, mood, emotional energy and behaviour. They might respond with feelings of worry, self-blame or guilt, or become upset or withdrawn, or over-compliant and eager to please (North et al., 2018). Infants in particular may be more sensitive due to their age and lack of language to communicate their needs, making it harder for them to express their distress but also for parents to understand their reactions.

As well as managing their own responses to the disaster, a child may notice changes in their parents’ moods, behaviours and availability or responsiveness. Even infants and young children will notice such changes. What the child sees, hears and feels, and how they make sense of the changes they notice, contributes to their own response (Gibbs et al., 2015; Kosta et al., 2021). For example, through the lens of their own anxiety, a child might see their parent’s fear as validation that the world is not a safe place, heightening the child’s perception of threat. In another situation, a child might interpret a parent’s mood changes and reduced availability as rejection, further compounding the child’s emotions, moods, behaviour, worries and concerns.

Child emotions and behaviours

The child’s emotions, worries and concerns after the disaster might be difficult for them to make meaning of. They may express their feelings using behaviours that are seen by parents and others as intentionally disruptive, difficult or anti-social. A child’s emotions and behaviours can place stress on the parent and this relational response can move back and forth between the parent and child, impacting on the parent–child relationship (Australian Red Cross et al., 2020).

Parent–child feedback loop 

Disasters can disrupt the family’s usual communication systems that support parents and children in having shared understandings. With the parent and the child managing their own responses to the disaster, and the possibility of parents having less emotional and physical availability, there is increased possibility of misunderstanding in the parent–child relationship.

Children need warm and responsive care to help them understand their emotions and learn to express themselves in healthy ways. The parent might see the child’s behaviour but find it hard to understand or make meaning of what’s going on beneath it, increasing their worry. They might not know how to respond, or have the capacity to do so, due to their own worries and stresses and the overwhelming demands of disaster recovery (Australian Red Cross et al., 2020; Kosta et al., 2021). This in turn could impact on how the parent interacts with their child, making it difficult to provide the support and warmth their child needs. The child sees and feels these changes and responds, impacting on how they interact with the parent.

Keeping the interactions of this cycle in mind will help you support parents in protecting and nurturing their children’s mental health and wellbeing after disasters. You can also build parents’ understanding by sharing the parent–child relationship feedback animation with them.

When engaging with parents after a disaster, you can support family resilience by:

• providing information and education to promote parent and family awareness (mental health literacy) about child development and mental health needs after a disaster (Gibbs et al., 2014; Kosta et al., 2021; Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020)
• supporting parents’ coping mechanisms and strengthening their mental health to promote their capacity to provide warm and responsive care for their children (Australian Red Cross et al., 2020; Gibbs et al., 2014; Kosta et al., 2021)
• promoting strong connections with extended family, friends and community, enabling emotional and practical support (Gibbs et al., 2014)
• mobilising and helping them access social, emotional and practical resources as needed such as counselling, financial support and housing (Shang et al., 2019; Ungar, 2010; 2016).

It is important to remember the broader ecology of the child also influences their health and wellbeing (McDonald-Harker et al., 2021; Ungar & Theron, 2020; Walker, 2021). The child’s life outside the family context – such as community involvement, school or early learning services, and relationships with other trusted adults and peers – also influences their social and emotional wellbeing and mental health as they develop and grow (Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020; Ungar & Theron, 2020). Disasters can suspend or stop meaningful engagement and interactions that might have had a protective influence, just when the child needs them most. The loss of such relationships can cause children additional worry and distress.

Additionally, a child’s circumstances before the disaster, including any pre-existing challenges such as a lack of resources, can significantly influence their mental health and ability to cope afterward. Children who already faced adversities may find it more challenging to navigate the post-disaster environment.

At the same time, a disaster may offer new opportunities for children to participate in meaningful relief and recovery activities within their communities, and in doing so create new protective connections.

When parents are under pressure after a disaster event, relationships are critical for offering connection, safety and security to support the child, parent and whole family (Australian Red Cross, 2020; Fernandes et al., 2013; Gibbs et al., 2014; Kosta et al., 2021; Pfefferbaum et al., 2015). You can learn more about the whole child and how their ecology shapes their experiences of disasters in Understanding how disasters influence infants and children.

As detailed in the previous section, responsive care from parents and a positive parent–child relationship are key protective factors for the mental health of children who have experienced a disaster. However, disasters can adversely impact on parents, including the availability of their usual support systems and their capacity to respond and relate to their child.

Juggling the many competing priorities after a disaster can be overwhelming, especially as parents navigate their own responses to disruptions, including physiological and psychological symptoms affecting sleep, concentration and decision-making. Financial constraints, limited resources, housing issues and disruptions in community support systems further complicate the parenting environment post-disaster (Australian Red Cross et al., 2020). For parents of children with disabilities, these challenges can be even more pronounced. Disasters often disrupt the specialised routines, therapies, and supports that children with disabilities rely on.

Additionally, parents may experience profound shame and guilt over their perceived inability to fully support their children or maintain stability amid these challenges. This can add to parental stress levels and undermine their confidence and capacity to effectively address family needs. In the context of multiple disasters or ongoing challenges the accumulating strain can significantly impact parents’ ability to provide for their children’s needs, highlighting the interconnectedness of parenting within the child’s broader ecology.

It is also important to recognise that, despite their best intentions, parents and other adults around children may sometimes overlook or misunderstand children’s specific needs during the recovery process. The immediate priorities of disaster recovery often overshadow the nuanced, ongoing needs of children, particularly those with disabilities. This gap can lead to an underestimation of the distress children experience and a lack of sustained attention to their recovery needs.

Acknowledging the resilience and resourcefulness of families within their community context is key. While parents face considerable challenges, they often rely on extended family members, neighbours, community organisations, and government services to navigate post-disaster challenges. These networks provide practical assistance, emotional support, and a sense of collective efficacy, which are crucial for parents striving to re-establish stability and support for their children. As the saying goes, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. The post-disaster community and available resources are crucial in helping families overcome the challenges they face and enhancing their capacity to promote their children’s recovery.

Addressing risk factors and enhancing protective factors within this broader network helps mitigate the negative impacts of disasters and promote children’s recovery.

In the following video (4 minutes, 50 seconds) parents with lived experience of disasters and practitioners describe ways in which parents’ coping, capacity or personal challenges can influence their ability to provide stability and support for their children.

Select the following headings to explore ways that practitioners can support parents and other important adults in a child’s ecology that will enhance children’s wellbeing and recovery after a disaster. Depending on your role, you may offer support to parents and families in various ways or focus on specific needs.

When practitioners engage with parents through strength-based, family-focused approaches, it enhances the family’s resilience and capacity for recovery. This approach supports parents and also improves outcomes for children by fostering supportive environments that recognise and build upon existing strengths.

Children in families that proactively seek help and mobilise support are more likely to experience positive outcomes after a disaster (Fothergill & Peek, 2015). Services need to be accessible, visible and responsive to encourage and facilitate this proactive behaviour. Outreach and community engagement are important to ensure that families are aware of available resources and feel comfortable accessing them. It is important for services to focus on building trust and reducing barriers to help-seeking, providing culturally sensitive support, and fostering strong community networks to enhance collective efficacy. By doing so, services can better support families in navigating the challenges of post-disaster recovery and promote positive outcomes for children and their families.

Resilience involves the potential for personal and relational transformation and positive growth to be forged out of adversity (Walsh, 2016a). Rather than a fixed trait, resilience is a dynamic process shaped by the interaction of individual factors with social, relational and environmental influences within the child’s ecology (Ungar & Theron, 2020). More than just bouncing back, resilience involves weaving the experience of adversity to create new understandings of our individual and collective selves through what can be described as ‘struggling well’ (Walsh, 2016b, p. 5). It evolves over time and can be influenced by ongoing and compounding challenges, such as concurrent and consecutive disasters.

Family resilience refers to ‘the capacity of the family, as a functional system, to withstand and rebound from adversity and to overcome significant life challenges’ (Walsh 2016a). Connectedness, open communication and shared belief systems are some of the most important elements in building resilience within families.

Froma Walsh, a researcher and practitioner who developed the Family Resilience Framework, identified nine key family processes that help families manage well during tough times. These processes support families in coming together, reducing stress and adapting to changes. They are organised into three main areas:

1. A family’s belief systems can support resilience by:
   • facilitating meaning-making of challenge
   • underpinning a hopeful, positive outlook to promote a family’s agency, initiative and perseverance
   • drawing on their transcendent or spiritual values, practices and purpose.
2. A family’s organisational processes can support resilience through:
   • flexible yet stable structures, with strong leadership for nurturing, guidance, and protection
   • connectedness for mutual support and teamwork
   • mobilising extended kin, social, community and socioeconomic resources.
3. A family’s communication/problem-solving processes can facilitate resilience through:
   • providing clear information
   • empathic open emotional sharing of the struggles and positive interactions that enhance bonding and help to lift spirits
   • collaborative problem-solving, with a proactive approach that initiates resourcefulness towards future challenges (Walsh, 2016a, 2016b).

Strengthening a family’s capacity for resilience promotes their ability to nurture their children’s mental health and wellbeing (Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020). Practitioners can partner with parents to build on and strengthen existing family processes or establish new ones in the aftermath of disasters (Gibbs et al., 2014; Ungar, 2010, 2016; Ungar & Theron, 2020).

Following are some ways you could support these processes in practice:

• Facilitate meaning-making by engaging in conversations that help families interpret challenges and find purpose in their experiences.
• Promote a positive outlook by highlighting families’ strengths and past successes to foster hope for future challenges.
• Support families in connecting with their spiritual or cultural practices that offer comfort and purpose.
• Assist in creating and maintaining consistent routines and roles within the household to provide stability.
• Encourage regular family activities and strong connections with extended family and community networks to enhance mutual support.
• Help families identify and access additional resources, such as community services and financial assistance.
• Ensure families receive clear and timely information about support services and disaster recovery processes.
• Work with parents to create a safe space for children to share their emotions and experiences, modelling empathetic listening and validation. In addition to having conversations, encourage play and creative activities like art and storytelling to help children process emotions and experiences.
• Recommend using books and games, such as Birdie’s Tree, to help children understand and express their experiences with their parents.
• Guide families in developing practical solutions and planning actionable steps for immediate challenges and future uncertainties.

Hearing from parents who have experienced disasters in Australia and practitioners who support them can provide valuable lessons and practical strategies for supporting recovery. Disasters impact communities differently, and each context presents unique challenges for the affected families and those providing services to them.

In the following video (7 minutes, 27 seconds) practitioners and parents who have experienced disasters talk about the importance of providing practical and emotional support to parents to enhance their children’s wellbeing and recovery.

Examples of Australian services that support parents after disasters

This section briefly highlights different services in Australia that support parents after disasters. These examples offer practical insights into various approaches for effectively assisting parents in their recovery efforts.

Prioritising your own wellbeing as a worker

Partnering with parents and families to support children after disasters can be challenging. It’s easy to overlook the importance of maintaining your own wellbeing, which is crucial for doing your job effectively. The intense stress and uncertainty of working in a post-disaster context can significantly impact your physical and mental health, especially if you and your family were also affected by the event.

To support others effectively, it is essential to actively prioritise your own wellbeing. This goes beyond basic self-care; it involves regularly assessing the impact of your work on your health, seeking feedback from your support network, and identifying necessary actions to mitigate stress. By managing risks to your wellbeing and enhancing protective factors, you can provide sustained support to others in the aftermath of a disaster.

For practical suggestions and strategies, refer to the practice paper Wellbeing for workers supporting children and families after a disaster.

Further learning

There are five essential elements that are widely recognised as foundational principles for providing psychosocial support to people in distress after a disaster (Hobfoll et al., 2007; 2021). They have been developed through expert consensus and informed by international research, empirical evidence, and practice experience to guide care and support for individuals during, immediately after, and several months following a disaster or other potentially traumatic event.

When communicating with parents, it is important to share these key messages to support both their own recovery and their ability to help their children and whole families. Along with examples of how these principles support infants and children after a disaster, the five essential elements of psychosocial support are:

Promoting a sense of safety: Share with parents that feeling safe and secure reduces distress and traumatic stress responses over time, which supports their children’s physical and emotional wellbeing. Encourage them to create a stable and secure environment for their children.

Promoting calm: Advise parents on the importance of providing reassurance and applying strategies to soothe infants or help children feel calm to reduce distress. Simple calming activities can be very effective.

Promoting connectedness: Highlight the importance of promoting connections with their children, peers, and important adults in their lives. Emphasise that these connections help children feel they are not alone in navigating difficult times after a disaster, while also providing comfort and reassurance.

Promoting self-efficacy and collective efficacy: Encourage parents to involve their children in developmentally appropriate ways in the recovery process (e.g. helping with family or community recovery efforts). This can help children feel more confident and resilient.

Promoting hope: Stress the importance of maintaining optimism and hopefulness. When parents have a positive sense of the future, it helps their children feel more hopeful and supports better mental health and wellbeing outcomes.

By sharing these key messages, you can help parents feel more empowered and resilient. In turn, parents can use these same principles to support their children and entire families, creating a nurturing and stable environment that fosters recovery and growth for everyone involved. This holistic approach ensures that both parents and children receive the care and support they need to navigate the aftermath of a disaster together.

Further, these elements can be used to positively guide the approach of all practitioners; you don’t have to be a mental health specialist. You can learn more about the five elements in the following practice papers:

Select the following headings for key messages you can share with parents who have experienced disasters. They are informed by the experiences of parents and families who have been directly affected by disasters, as well as practitioners and researchers working in disaster mental health.

You may find it useful to take a look at Emerging Minds Families’ resources on supporting children following a bushfire, flood or drought.

After a disaster, parents may feel too overloaded by demands, too distressed by their experiences, or too afraid of judgement, to talk with a practitioner about the challenges their family is facing. To effectively engage with parents in this context requires a practitioner to understand and validate the family’s particular circumstances, without judgement or blame, and earn the parent’s trust.  

One of the first steps in building partnerships with parents is providing practical support and offering outreach. By addressing immediate concerns and helping families navigate urgent needs, practitioners can reduce stress and lay the groundwork for more in-depth discussions. Finding stability in their environment and meeting basic needs often takes precedence. Parents may not have the capacity to focus on their emotional needs until weeks, months or even years after the disaster.  

In an effective partnership, the practitioner and the parent establish a shared understanding of the strengths and needs of the parent, their children and family and agree together on the family’s goals for recovery. From this foundation, practitioners can support parents to build on and strengthen the family’s capacity for resilience, thereby nurturing the children’s mental health and wellbeing.

Emerging Minds has developed six evidence-based practice positions to facilitate effective engagement with parents that can support conversations about parenting roles and children’s social and emotional wellbeing.

Engaging with parents when there are child protection concerns

After a disaster, the risk of child protection concerns rises sharply. Families may face intense social and economic pressures, which increase the risk of violence against children as well as women (Seddighi et al., 2019; Parkinson & Zara, 2013). The stress of lost resources, coupled with chaotic post-disaster environments and emergency housing, can heighten the risk of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse (Seddighi et al., 2019). Underreporting is common and often linked to damaged infrastructure and reporting systems.

Parental engagement is key to the effective support of children when a family has child protection concerns or is in contact with child protection services. Effective engagement involves establishing positive partnerships, based on a shared understanding and commitment to supporting children and strengthening families (Parenting Research Centre [PRC], 2017). However, effective parental engagement can be challenging.

Using the practice positions can be a starting point to guide your practice when working with families where children may be at risk. For further learning, the following article Engaging with parents when there are child protection concerns: Key considerations describes key strategies and tools that you can use to work effectively with parents when there are child protection concerns.

The six practice principles outlined previously provide a foundation for applying the PERCS approach to a conversation with parents after a disaster. The PERCS approach supports collaborative, respectful conversations around the impact of disasters on the daily lives of children and their families.

The PERCS approach asks you to consider five domains in the child’s life:

• Parent–child relationships
• Emotions and behaviours
• Routines
• Communication and meaning making
• Support systems.

The PERCS approach is not intended to be prescriptive: the order and emphasis given to each domain should be tailored to suit your work context and the culture and circumstances of the family you’re supporting.

Practitioners often work in services designed to focus on the needs of the individual (adult or child) they are working with. However, in the context of a disaster experience it is equally crucial to consider the broader context – for example, how the disaster has impacted a parent’s experience of parenting, the parent–child relationship and their family’s dynamics and functioning.

When working with adults who are parents a balanced approach ensures that while their individual needs are addressed, support also strengthens the parent–child connection and enhances family functioning, which are vital for the long-term resilience and recovery of all family members. This includes focusing on how the parent feels about their role and the capacity to respond to their children’s needs after the disaster. Guided conversations that explore the parent’s experience can be particularly valuable. Reflecting on how the disaster has reshaped their parenting and relationship with their children, rather than solely on their or their child’s responses, can inform a more comprehensive support strategy.

These conversations may also help address aspects of parenting that might otherwise be overshadowed by a focus on personal mental health. For example, recognising how the parent’s experience impacts their relationship with their children and their capacity to parent in an ever-changing post-disaster environment. This holistic approach can facilitate a more balanced recovery process, as it acknowledges and supports both the parent’s and the child’s needs in the aftermath of a disaster.

Below are example questions to assist you in engaging in conversations with parents about their children and family that can alleviate the sense of blame or judgement a parent might carry. These questions are designed to illuminate a parent’s strengths and hopes for their family, and help you build a shared understanding of the way in which a disaster has influenced them, their children and their family life. It is crucial that parents experience the conversation as validating and leave the session with a sense of hope, feeling more confident to navigate their family’s challenges after the disaster.

PERCS domains

Select the following PERCS domains to explore questions you can use in practice with parents.

Parent–child relationship

A secure, nurturing relationship between a child and their parent or caregiver is vital for building resilience, especially after a disaster. Practitioners should recognise that during high-stress events, parents may react in uncharacteristic ways – saying or doing things they later regret, particularly when danger feels imminent. It’s crucial to help parents understand that these reactions are natural responses to extreme stress and that they can repair the impact on their relationship with their child.

‘My mum was frantic as we hadn’t really experienced anything like this before, but when she was calm, when we knew we were safe, that made me more calm in that situation as well.’ – Willow, 22 years old, reflecting on her experience of disaster

In the aftermath of a disaster, parents are often consumed by the practical tasks of recovery, leaving little capacity to focus on their child’s emotional needs. This may lead to feelings of shame or guilt, as some parents may feel they are inadvertently neglecting their child’s wellbeing. Practitioners should emphasise that these challenges are common and that there are opportunities to rebuild and strengthen the parent–child relationship over time.

Children may also express their emotions in ways that parents perceive as disruptive or difficult, adding stress to the parent. This can create a cycle of emotional responses that further impacts the parent–child relationship (Australian Red Cross et al., 2020).

Engaging parents in strengthening their connection with their children is key to supporting children’s mental health after a disaster (Gibbs et al., 2015; Gibbs et al., 2014). A family-focused approach provides parents with the resources and skills to offer nurturing, responsive care, promoting children’s emotional wellbeing and long-term resilience (Moore et al., 2016).

Encouraging parents to acknowledge these challenges and foster open conversations with their children can help rebuild trust and strengthen their bond. Remind parents that it’s never too late to repair the relationship.

‘I had intense guilt and shame not preparing for the fires … I had no idea that [there would] be two weeks where we couldn’t even get food, like they helicoptered the army in to bring food in. And, you know, here I was with two packets of hot cross buns, so I felt awful. And then I, you know, at that point realised it wasn’t helping my kids.’ – Sarnia, mother of three, reflecting on her family’s experience of disaster

‘As the primary caregiver you take on the emotional needs for everybody. And in those moments where the adrenaline is huge, you are just trying to think of as many things as you can. You can’t beat yourself up over those moments because they’re they’re just almost out of your control because there’s so much going on.’ – Heather, mother of three reflecting on their experience of bushfires and recovery

‘It’s really hard for parents to take a break, particularly if you’re looking after little ones. All of the things that need to be coordinated after disasters, it wasn’t possible, the whole fix your own mask before you put it on someone else. It didn’t apply in this situation, it was just, you just keep going.’ – Kate, reflecting on experience from Black Saturday, Regional Victoria

As you engage in these conversations, remind parents to practise self-compassion. In the chaos of a disaster, they do the best they can with the information and resources available. Being gentle with themselves during recovery is essential for their wellbeing and that of their family. It’s also important to remind parents that while they play a significant role in their child’s recovery, this happens within the broader network of relationships in the child’s ecology. Other adult-child relationships, such as those with extended family, teachers, or community members, are also crucial in supporting the child’s resilience and wellbeing.

Emotions and behaviours

Children need to feel safe and confident that their emotions will be noticed, understood and responded to in a nurturing way. Experiencing a disaster can profoundly impact children’s emotions, often leaving them feeling scared, confused and overwhelmed. Children may experience sustained ‘fight, flight, freeze or fawn’ stress reactions long after the disaster has passed, which can result in heightened emotional responses. Validating and supporting children’s emotions – and recognising how they might be communicated as behaviours – is essential to supporting their wellbeing after disasters. Children may not yet have the language to express their feelings verbally, so their behaviour is a way of exploring and communicating their feelings and needs. You can learn more about understanding and supporting children’s feelings and responses in Emerging Minds Families’ Emotions and behaviours fact sheet.

‘Behaviours are actually a form of communication for young children, and just being aware of what that could look like, but not assuming that just because children have been through a traumatic experience, that they’re all going to be traumatised.’ – Kate, reflecting on experience from Black Saturday, Regional Victoria

It is also important to acknowledge that parents can experience similar emotional responses to a disaster. Parents may feel overwhelmed, anxious or stressed, which can affect their interactions with their children. Helping parents to recognise and manage their responses is crucial for maintaining a supportive environment for their children.

Parents and other adults can promote a child’s resilience, mental health and wellbeing by:

• understanding how children around the child’s age typically respond to a disruptive event like a disaster
• being curious about the individual’s child’s feelings, especially if these emotions are being expressed in challenging behaviour
• building a shared language with the child about ‘big feelings’, ways to express and communicate feelings, and strategies that help the child feel better
• recognising their own emotional responses and seeking strategies to manage these effectively (Hafstad et al., 2012).

Routines and predictability

Restoring a sense of normality by re-establishing or creating new routines following the uncertainty and disruption of disasters helps reduce distress and promote children’s mental health, wellbeing and recovery (Australian Red Cross et al., 2020; Gibbs et al., 2015; Hafstad et al., 2012; Kosta et al., 2021; McDonald-Harker et al., 2021). This, along with other strategies, can also help to rebuild predictability, a sense of control, and trust in the world.

‘Especially for younger children, that stability and routine is probably one of the biggest things. Even for myself and my brother, I knew that that meant a lot to us, to have the stability and the routine, which there’s not a lot of it when you go through something like that.’ – Willow, 22 years old, reflecting on her experience of disaster

Although disasters may result in the loss of familiar learning environments, recreational areas, toys or play spaces, adapting routines to fit the new circumstances is crucial. When familiar activities or spaces are not available, you can work with parents to explore alternative ways to incorporate enjoyable and supportive routines. This may require problem solving, flexibility and creativity. For instance, if parks or recreational areas are inaccessible, consider creating new play areas at home or in temporary accommodation, engaging in indoor activities or discovering nearby facilities that are still operational. Practical support to replace lost toys or repairing damaged outdoor spaces can also help in re-establishing a sense of normalcy and fun.

Predictability can also be supported through sensory experiences and familiar objects. For example, familiar smells, textures or comforting items like soft toys can help restore a sense of security and normalcy.

‘I noticed that a lot of the donated clothing and linens all smelt strange as they had all come from different places. Washing the children’s clothes, linen and soft toys in our “pre-fires” washing powder seemed to have a stabilising effect. We replaced my son’s soft toy rabbit “LouLou” and it helped him cope day to day, and get to sleep. Fifteen years later he still has LouLou and has been known to hold LouLou close when he has been distressed.’ – Mum of two reflecting on her family’s experience of a bushfire

Encouraging families to engage in or try various activities, which could be creative, physical and/or community-related, can support healthy and holistic development and offer moments of joy and relaxation. Guiding parents to prioritise and facilitate family activities and routines supports children’s healing and hopefulness after a disaster (McDonald-Harker et al., 2021).

Communication and meaning-making

Age-appropriate communication can help children express emotions and make meaning of their experiences of a disaster, in turn promoting their resilience and recovery (Ungar, 2016; Walsh, 2021; McDonald-Harker et al., 2021). When parents can create a supportive environment and encourage children to express their emotions and perspectives about the disaster the family is able to make sense of their experiences together (Schonfeld et al., 2015).

Children, particularly those who engage in magical thinking, may struggle to fully understand the disaster and might interpret it in ways that lead to fears, worries, self-blame and additional distress. They may not have all the information they need or might misconstrue events based on their limited understanding, which can exacerbate their emotional responses. For example:

• A young child might mistakenly believe that their misbehaviour caused the storm, leading to unnecessary guilt and self-blame.
• A primary school-aged child might think that their actions, like leaving a light on, triggered the bushfire, and that caused their dad to start drinking heavily, leading to feelings of undue responsibility and worry.
• After a flood, a child might irrationally fear that a crocodile could come up the street and harm their pet, resulting in hidden anxieties and distress.
• Following an earthquake, a child might avoid playing outside, fearing that the ground is unstable and could swallow them.
• A child might start hoarding snacks under their bed because of a sibling’s comment about potential future food shortages and their parent’s financial concerns.

Parents may also make assumptions about their children’s perspectives, which can lead to gaps in understanding and unmet emotional needs. For instance, parents might believe their child is not worried because they seem calm and do not ask questions. A child may not want to tell their parents because they fear adding to their parents’ stress or believe their worries are silly. Additionally, some children might not feel ready or willing to talk, and their silence should be respected as part of their coping process. However, some children may cope without immediately talking or expressing their feelings, and their reactions might be delayed. Therefore, it’s important to encourage parents to provide ongoing opportunities for children to express themselves over time, and to check in with their children periodically to support their emotional wellbeing and help them make sense of the disaster.

You can assist parents and other significant adults in the child’s life to create opportunities for effective communication and meaning-making. This might involve supporting children to express their thoughts and feelings through verbal communication, actions, play, writing and/or drawing. Working with parents to model ways to share their own emotional responses (that are developmentally appropriate for their children) – such as through conversations, play, storytelling, or artistic expressions – can help to facilitate open and honest communication within the family. This approach empowers children to express their own feelings, fears and hopes (Schonfeld et al., 2015).

Introducing families to relevant resources or books, such as the Birdie’s Tree storybooks from the Queensland Centre for Perinatal Mental Health (QCPIMH) or the Australian Red Cross children’s booklet After the emergency, can help parents and children build shared language around emotions within the family, helping to make sense of experiences together, strengthening connections, and helping children feel safe. These books can also be used in a group setting, like playgroups, story time at libraries or in education settings.

Knowing that others have had similar experiences can help children feel understood and less alone (McDonald-Harker et al., 2021). When practitioners connect parents, children and families with others who’ve been through relatable events, this is another way families can begin to find meaning and create a shared narrative.

While some aspects of a disaster may remain inexplicable, families can find strength in shared experiences and create meaning through positive responses and recovery efforts. Creating meaning differs from understanding the reasons behind the event; it involves finding personal significance or purpose, which can aid in emotional healing and resilience. Families can focus on positive outcomes, such as the resilience they demonstrated, the support they received from the community, or the ways they grew closer as a family. By creating meaning, families can find a sense of hope and empowerment in the aftermath of a disaster.

Support systems: Social networks and practical resourcing

Activating support systems after a disaster provides the network of social and practical support parents, children and families need to rebuild after the disruption (Gibbs et al., 2014; McDonald-Harker et al., 2021). Social networks provide avenues for emotional support and expression, mutual assistance and collective problem-solving, fostering a sense of community and belonging.

‘I was newly separated, so everything fell on my shoulders. And afterwards trying to get things fixed and back on track and to figure out all these services that we needed, there was no one to look after the kids or to help with any of that. It was a different experience if you don’t have someone to back you up.’ – Adrienne, single mother of three, reflecting on the Brisbane 2011 floods

‘As far as community initiatives, being around playgroups, community dinners and, as a whole family approach, going to those sorts of events where people understood what you had been through and being able to have those incidental conversations with others is really helpful.’ – Kate, reflecting on experience from Black Saturday, Regional Victoria

Post-disaster community-based initiatives, such as support groups and recreational activities, offer opportunities for children and parents to connect with others who have had similar experiences. This can reduce feelings of isolation and promote social integration and recovery (McDonald-Harker et al., 2021). Involving children (who are ready and interested) in recovery efforts empowers them to contribute meaningfully, fostering a sense of agency and purpose (Gibbs et al., 2014). Practitioners may need to help parents navigate service systems and coordinate with other support services so they can access appropriate resources tailored to their needs (Ungar, 2010).

While these questions are a starting point, engaging with parents to support children and their families after a disaster involves more than enquiry. Offering advice and practical strategies on how to support infants and children after disasters is crucial.

Strategies for supporting infant and child mental health after disasters

Another paper in this practice guide, Practices for supporting infant and child mental health after disasters, provides strategies across a similar range of domains to the PERCS conversation guide, including complementary papers on:

• Child–adult relationships: Fostering strong, supportive relationships between children and the adults in their lives, including parents, to build a sense of security and trust.
• Emotional regulation: Helping children manage their emotions and behaviors through various techniques.
• Communication and meaning-making: Encouraging open, age-appropriate communication to help children express their emotions and make sense of their experiences.
• Play and creative expression: Using play and creative activities as therapeutic tools to aid emotional processing and recovery.
• Routines and predictability: Establishing consistent routines to provide children with a sense of stability and normalcy.
• Support networks: Connecting children and families with community resources and support networks to bolster their resilience and recovery efforts.

By offering parents strategies they can use to support their children, you can help families navigate the challenges they face after a disaster and promote the recovery and wellbeing of both children and parents.

Further learning

The PERCS conversation guide has also been developed to use specifically with parents who are experiencing difficulties with their mental and physical health, substance use, and family domestic violence (FDV). Given the risk of experiencing these difficulties increases after disasters, you may find these resources helpful in your practice:

While disasters can disrupt the foundations of a child’s daily life, there is much that can be done to support their recovery and promote resilience. Adverse effects of disasters can be prevented or mitigated when children, their parents and families are:

• supported to identify their needs
• supported to access resources and services
• offered tailored responses.

Practitioners can promote child, parent and family wellbeing by supporting parents to:

• activate support systems
• nurture the parent–child relationship
• build shared understandings
• strengthen the family connection
• facilitate open communication
• re-establish a sense of safety and stability.

By providing compassionate, informed support, you can make a difference in the lives of children and families, helping them navigate the challenges of disaster.

The following resources and online courses provide opportunities for further learning.

Resources

Online courses

Arcaya, M., Raker, E. J., & Waters, M. C. (2020). The social consequences of disasters: Individual and community change. Annual Review of Sociology, 46(1), 671–691.

Australian Red Cross. (2020). Psychological First Aid: Supporting people affected by disaster in Australia (3rd ed.). Australian Red Cross and Australian Psychological Society.

Australian Red Cross, The University of Melbourne, & Phoenix Australia. (2020). Parenting: Coping with crisis. Australian Red Cross.

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2016). Building core capabilities for life: The science behind the skills adults need to succeed in parenting and in the workplace Harvard University.

Cobham, V. E., McDermott, B., Haslam, D., & Sanders, M. R. (2016). The role of parents, parenting and the family environment in children’s post-disaster mental health. Current Psychiatry Reports, 18(6). DOI: 10.1007/s11920-016-0691-4.

Cobham, V. E., McDermott, B., & Sanders, M. R. (2018). Parenting support in the context of natural disaster. In M. R. Sanders & T. G. Mazzucchelli (Eds.), The power of positive parenting: Transforming the lives of children, parents, and communities using the Triple P system (pp. 272–283). Oxford University Press.

Eagland, S., Curtin, M., & Parnell, T. (2024). After the disaster: Facilitating children to talk of their feeling and experiences. In L. Mahony, S. McLeod, A. Salamon, J. Dwyer (Eds), Early childhood voices: Children, families, professionals (pp. 197-208). International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development(Vol. 42). Springer Science and Business Media B.V. 

Fernandes, G. C. M., Boehs, A. E., & Heidemann, I. T. S. B. (2013). O suporte social durante a transição familiar no pós-desastre natural. Texto & Contexto – Enfermagem, 22(4), 1098–1105. DOI: 10.1590/s0104-07072013000400028.

Gibbs, L., Block, K., Harms, L., MacDougall, C., Baker, E., Ireton, G., Forbes, D., Richardson, J., & Waters, E. (2015). Children and young people’s wellbeing post-disaster: Safety and stability are critical. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 14(2), 195–201. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.06.006. 

Gibbs, L., Pietro, M. D., Harris, A., Ireton, G., Samantha, Mordech, Sinclair, J., & Wraith, R. (2014). Core principles for a community-based approach to supporting child disaster recovery. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 29(1), 17–24.

Hafstad, G. S., Haavind, H., & Jensen, T. K. (2012). Parenting after a natural disaster: A qualitative study of Norwegian families surviving the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 21, 293–302. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-011-9474-z. 

Hobfoll, S. E., Watson, P., Bell, C. C., Bryant, R. A., Brymer, M. J., & Friedman, M. J. (2007). Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma intervention: Empirical evidence. Psychiatry, 70(4), 283–315. DOI: 10.1080/00332747.2021.2005387. 

Hobfoll, S. E., Watson, P., Bell, C. C., Bryant, R. A., Brymer, M. J., Friedman, M. J., Friedman, M., Gersons, B. P. R., De Jong, J., Layne, C. M., Maguen, S., Neria, Y., Norwood, A. E., Pynoos, R. S., Reissman, D., Ruzek, J. I., Shalev, A. Y., Solomon, Z., Steinberg, A. M., & Ursano, R. J. (2021). Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma Intervention: Empirical evidence. Psychiatry, 84(4), 311–346. DOI: 10.1080/00332747.2021.2005387. 

Hu, T., Siyuan, X., & Liu, W. (2018). A senior high school-based survey on the long-term impact of the Wenchuan earthquake on survivors’ quality of life: PTSD as a mediator. Psychiatry Research, 270, 310–316. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.09.043. 

Kiliç, E. Z., Özgüven, H. D., & Sayil, I. (2003). The psychological effects of parental mental health on children experiencing disaster: The experience of Bolu earthquake in Turkey. Family Process, 42(4), 485–495. DOI: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2003.00485.x. 

Kosta, L., Harms, L., Gibbs, L., & Rose, D. (2021). Being a parent after a disaster: The new normal after the 2009 Victorian Black Saturday bushfires. The British Journal of Social Work, 51(5), 1759–1778. DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcab104. 

McDermott, B. (2014). Disasters, children and families: Have we arrived at a comprehensive model of emotional health care? The Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 29(1), 10–11. McDermott, B. M., & Cobham, V. E. (2014). A stepped-care model of post-disaster child and adolescent mental health service provision. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5(1), DOI: 10.3402/ejpt.v5.24294.

McDonald-Harker, C., Drolet, J. L., Sehgal, A., Brown, M. R. G., Silverstone, P. H., Brett-Maclean, P., & Agyapong, V. I. O. (2021). Social-ecological factors associated with higher levels of resilience in children and youth after disaster: The importance of caregiver and peer support. Frontiers in Public Health, 9.  

Moore, T., McDonald, M., McHugh-Dillon, H., & West, S. (2016). Community engagement: A key strategy for improving outcomes for Australian families (CFCA Paper no. 39). Australian Institute of Family Studies.

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2015). Supportive relationships and active skill-building strengthen the foundations of resilience (Working Paper no. 13). Harvard University. 

North, C. S., Mendoza, S., Simic, Z., & Pfefferbaum, B. (2018). Parent-reported behavioral and emotional responses of children to disaster and parental psychopathology. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 23(4), 303–316. DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2018.1443710.

Parenting Research Centre (PRC). (2017). Engagement of birth parents involved in the child protection system: A scoping review of frameworks, policies, and practice guides. Report prepared for the NSW Department of Family and Community Services. DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2018.1443710.

Parkinson, D., & Zara, C. (2013). The hidden disaster: Domestic violence in the aftermath of natural disaster. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 28(2), 28–35.

Pfefferbaum, B., Jacobs, A. K., Houston, J. B., & Griffin, N. (2015). Children’s disaster reactions: The influence of family and social factors. Current Psychiatry Reports, 17(7). DOI: 10.1007/s11920-015-0597-6.

Schonfeld, D. J., & Demaria, T. (2020). Supporting children and families in the aftermath of disasters. In D. J. Schonfeld & T. Demaria (Eds.), Nursing management of pediatric disaster (pp. 289–300). Springer International Publishing.

Schonfeld, D. J., Demaria, T., Krug, S. E., Chung, S., Fagbuyi, D. B., Fisher, M. C., Needle, S., Schonfeld, D. J., Yogman, M. W., Gambon, T. B., Lavin, A., Lemmon, L. K. M., Mattson, G., Mcguinn, L. J., Rafferty, J. R., & Wissow, L. S. (2015). Providing psychosocial support to children and families in the aftermath of disasters and crises. Pediatrics, 136(4), e1120-e1130. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-2861.

Seddighi, H., Salmani, I., Javadi, M. H., & Seddighi, S. (2021). Child abuse in natural disasters and conflicts: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(1), 176–185. DOI: 10.1177/1524838019835973.

Shang, F., Kaniasty, K., Cowlishaw, S., Wade, D., Ma, H., & Forbes, D. (2019). Social support following a natural disaster: A longitudinal study of survivors of the 2013 Lushan earthquake in China. Psychiatry Research, 273, 641–646. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.01.085. 

Ungar, M. (2010). Families as navigators and negotiators: Facilitating culturally and contextually specific expressions of resilience. Family Process, 49(3), 421–435. DOI: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2010.01331.x. 

Ungar, M. (2016). Varied patterns of family resilience in challenging contexts. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 42(1), 19–31. DOI: 10.1111/jmft.12124.

Ungar, M., & Theron, L. (2020). Resilience and mental health: How multisystemic processes contribute to positive outcomes. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(5), 441–448. DOI: 10.1016/s2215-0366(19)30434-1.

Walker, D. K. (2021). Parenting and social determinants of health. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 35(1), 134–136. DOI: 10.1016/j.apnu.2020.10.016. 

Walsh, F. (2016a). Family resilience: A developmental systems framework. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 13(3), 313–324. DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2016.1154035. 

Walsh, F. (2016b). Strengthening family resilience (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press.

Walsh, F. (2021). Family resilience: A dynamic systemic framework. In M. Ungar (Ed.), Multisystemic resilience: Adaptation and transformation in contexts of change (pp. 255–270). Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190095888.003.0015.