In December 2017, 9-year old Jack and his mother (Harriet) werevisiting their extended family in Melbourne. They were shopping inthe city on 21 December when a driver drove his car intopedestrians at the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth streets. Jackand his mum witnessed this event (in which 18 people were injured,with an elderly man subsequently dying from his injuries). Theywere not in harm’s way (with the car traveling away from them andthe driver quickly apprehended. However, Jack and his mum hadmultiple conversations about how they each thought they could havebeen killed during the attack. Two days later, Jack and his mumreturned to their home in Brisbane.
Jack lives in an intact family consisting of his biologicalparents, Harriet and Peter, and his older sister Natalie. He is inGrade 4 at the local primary school and has lots of friends. He isalso close to his parents and his grandparents (who are involved inhis care during the week).
Immediately following his return home, Jack experiencednightmares on a few occasions about cars driving towards him. Afterthe first nightmare, Jack’s dad (who has a history of anxiety anddepression) encouraged Jack to sleep in the parents’ bedroom on acamp mattress. Despite mum’s suggestion that it is time for Jack tomove back to his own bedroom, he is still sleeping in his parents’room. Jack’s mum and dad have had many arguments about thissituation. Peter’s (dad) perspective is that:
Jack is a very sensitive child who (even as a newborn baby) ismore easily upset than other children;
Jack has been exposed to a traumatic experience in which hecould have been killed;
Loving support (including avoidance of going into Brisbane city)is required to prevent Jack from developing ongoing mental healthproblems following this exposure; and
He (dad) could not cope if he lost one of his children.
From Harriet’s (mum) perspective:
The experience was upsetting but she and Jack were not hurt andwere never likely to have been hurt (as she has discussed withJack);
Peter (dad) needs to talk about the attack less; and
Jack is a healthy boy who seems to be handling the experiencewell.
Question: How likely do you think it is thatJack might develop a diagnosable mental health problem followinghis exposure to the attack in Melbourne? [Note, you are not beingasked to identify possible mental health problems]. Identify 8factors (a mixture of risk and protective factors – does not needto be 4 of each, but rather 8 in total) to justify your answer, andexplain why each is either a risk or a protective factor.
