Long-term psychological recovery process and its associated factors among survivors of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in Japan: a qualitative study

Long term impact of Wenchuan earthquake on population mental and behavioral disorders in heavily-stricken areas: An ecological study based on big data

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to explore and evaluate the development trends and differential changes in the prevalence of mental and behavioral disorders among the earthquake survivors in exposure groups (highly hard-hit areas) and control groups (general disaster areas) from 2015 to 2019, as well as to investigate the potential influencing factors.

METHODS

Data was obtained from the Sichuan Health Information System and the Sichuan Health Yearbook, the prevalence of the exposure group and the control group were calculated, the difference between the two groups was evaluated using the prevalence rate ratio, and a fixed effect model was developed to investigate the potential influencing factors of the prevalence.

RESULTS

The prevalence by gender and age in the exposure group was always greater than those in the control group (RR>1), although the disparity between the two proceeded to diminish with time. The urbanization rate (β = 0.0448, P < 0.05) and disaster area levels (β = 0.0104, P < 0.05) were risk factors for the prevalence of mental and behavioral disorders.

LIMITATIONS

The study only collected data at the group level following the Wenchuan earthquake. Consequently, the findings are only applicable at the group level. Furthermore, diagnostic criteria for various types of mental and behavioral disorders diseases were not provided.

CONCLUSIONS

The earthquake has a significant long-term impact on mental health. It is necessary to continuously monitor the mental health of Wenchuan earthquake survivors and take appropriate post-disaster intervention measures.

A Qualitative Narrative Study of Rescue and Recovery Workers Responding to the Terrorist Bombing of Oklahoma City's Murrah Building

OBJECTIVE

Much of disaster mental health research uses quantitative methods, focusing on numerical prevalence, services, and outcomes.

METHODS

Qualitative methods can provide more detailed, rich, and spontaneous insights into personal disaster experiences, yielding important insights beyond deductive methods. This large-scale qualitative narrative study examined experiences of 181 Oklahoma City bombing rescue/recovery workers.

RESULTS

Thematic narrative content of the bombing experience arose from personal accounts of the bomb blast by rescue/recovery workers proceeding chronologically from initial awareness and deployment to harrowing onsite search and rescue/recovery missions to the aftermath with reflections on the bombing.

CONCLUSIONS

Beyond disaster recovery/rescue worker stories published in popular media, little other substantive published knowledge on this topic is available, and therefore this research study provides a wealth of new in-depth information that can provide guidance for policy and practice for disaster response.

Acute-Stage Mental Health Symptoms by Natural Disaster Type: Consultations of Disaster Psychiatric Assistance Teams (DPATs) in Japan

This study analyzed the support activities that the Disaster Psychiatric Assistance Team (DPAT) in Japan provided following four previous disasters (a volcanic eruption, a mudslide, a flood, and an earthquake) to identify links between the disaster type and the characteristics of acute stage mental disorders observed. Using Disaster Mental Health Information Support System database records of consultations with patients supported by the DPAT during the survey period from 2013 (when DPAT was launched) to 2016, we performed cross-tabulations and investigated significant differences using chi-squared tests. For expected values less than 5, Fisher's exact test was performed. Frequently occurring acute-stage symptoms after a disaster include anxiety, sleep problems, mood and affect, and physical symptoms. The affected population characteristics, victim attributes, severity of damage sustained, and evacuation status were the chief factors that influenced acute-stage mental health symptoms. The psychiatric symptoms detected in our study together with the results of diagnoses are important for determining the types of early interventions needed during the acute stage of a disaster. By sharing baseline mental health information, together with disaster-related characteristics highlighted in this study, mental health providers are better able to predict future possible mental disorders and symptoms.

Resilience and its associated factors among older disaster survivors

Resilience is a valuable resource in attaining a productive life as well as successful and healthy aging. Little is known about how older people who have experienced the impacts of disasters have fared, especially after earthquakes, in the long term. This cross-sectional analytical study aimed to identify resilience and its associated factors among 324 older disaster survivors. Accordingly, participants reported having an intermediate level of resilience (48.5%), followed by low (28.7%) and high (22.8%) levels. Age, marital status, literacy status, current regular personal income, current health problem, frequent visits to health care centers, perceived quality of life changes after earthquakes, and perceived social support had a statistically significant association with resilience accounting for 33% of the variance in resilience. Nurses, mental health professionals, and other health care practitioners should consider these findings for promoting the resilience of older disaster survivors and develop multidimensional interventions for their disaster preparedness.

Changes in Japanese Junior High School Students' Sense of Coherence Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study of Children and Mothers

We conducted a longitudinal study to clarify the changes in the sense of coherence (SOC); that is, the ability to cope with stress successfully, of 166 Japanese junior high school students and their mothers before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we analyzed changes in SOC at three time points for all students and divided them into two groups: Group 1 included students with SOC scores that increased or maintained before and after the onset of the pandemic and Group 2 included students with decreased SOC scores after the onset of the pandemic. Second, we conducted a comparative analysis between the two groups. Overall, results indicated that student's SOC scores increased. Additionally, interpersonal stress scores were lower after the onset of the pandemic than before. There were almost no differences in family relationships, financial conditions, or personality tendencies between the two groups. However, Group 2 did not regain their sense of belonging to school. In this group, the frequency of stress experiences in club activities after the onset of the pandemic, troubles with the opposite gender, and inability to catch up with the contents of the subject lecture were high. The accumulation of small stressors may have hindered the maintenance of a sense of school affiliation. Mothers of students in Group 2 either were full-time employees at baseline or had started a new job after the onset of the pandemic. Their children may have been affected by the household's damaged financial budget and changes in mother's working styles. As COVID-19 reduced the number of days students went to school, students' SOC could have reduced had they not felt a sense of presence or belonging due to the lack of participation in club activities, school events, etc. Teachers and mothers should communicate carefully with their students and children, respectively, to develop a sense of belonging.