June 5, 2002 NEW YORK (AP) -- A group of children who lost parents in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center will be tracked for two years by psychiatrists studying grief and its effect on child development.
Seven children - whose parents were firefighters, police officers and office workers killed in the twin towers - so far are participating in the study, which began last month at Weill Medical College of Cornell University's Childhood Bereavement Program.
Researchers hope to attract about 50 families, according to Dr. Cynthia Pfeffer, a professor of psychiatry who has extensively studied childhood bereavement.
"We're going to be evaluating them at six-month intervals on their emotional, physical and social development," Pfeffer said. "There is very little information about child bereavement, and the loss of a parent is one of the most major stresses a child can experience."
Pfeffer said the study, funded by a $500,000 National Institute of Mental Health grant, will follow children ages 6 to 12. Children who were not affected by the attack will be evaluated for comparison.
The number of children who lost a parent in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is not known, but the bond firm Cantor Fitzgerald estimates its more than 650 victims left 1,300 children. At the Fire Department, which lost 343 people, more than 600 children were left without a parent. Hundreds more have not been counted.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
