Psychiatric Morbidity and Work and Social Adjustment Among Earthquake Survivors Extricated from under the Rubble

The factor structure of major depressive symptoms in a sample of Chinese earthquake survivors

BACKGROUND

Experiencing natural disasters is associated with common mental disorders including major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the latent structure of MDD is widely debated, and few studies tested the MDD factor structure in Chinese natural disaster survivors. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the factorial validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for DSM-5 major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms in Chinese earthquake survivors.

METHOD

Participants were 1058 Chinese earthquake survivors. Self-reported measures included the PHQ-9 and the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine the latent structure of MDD and the associations between latent factors of MDD and different domains of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), respectively.

RESULTS

In the current sample, the model consisted of somatic and cognitive/affective (non-somatic) factors demonstrated significantly better fit than the other competing MDD models (χ² = 173.89, df = 26, CFI = 0.986, TLI = 0.981, RMSEA = 0.073, BIC = 18,091.13). Further SEM analyses indicated that the non-somatic factor was significantly related to both physical (β = - 0.362, p < .01) and psychosocial HRQoL (β = - 0.773, p < .01), while the somatic factor was a uniquely predictor of physical HRQoL (β = - 0.336, p < .01). Furthermore, we found the somatic factor partially mediated the relationship between the cognitive/affective factor and physical HRQoL (all ps < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The MDD symptoms was best captured by a two-factor model comprised of somatic and cognitive/affective factors in Chinese natural disaster survivors. The two MDD factors were differentially associated with physical and psychosocial HRQoL, and the cognitive/affective factor associated physical HRQoL partially through the somatic factor. The current findings increase our understanding of latent structure of MDD symptoms, and carry implications for assessment and intervention of post-disaster mental health problems.

Posttrauma psychosocial effects in children: A systematic review of measurement scales

PROBLEM

Worldwide, the psychopathological effects of catastrophes such as earthquake, hurricane and war are causing traumas in an enormous number of children. Identification and assessment of the impact on children of catastrophic events is essential to their healing and continued well-being.

METHODS

To identify the relevant tools Google Scholar, SID, PsycInfo, Medlib, MedLine, and PubMed databases were searched using the relevant Mesh terms and their equivalents including ("anxiety" or "fear" or "depression" or "psychosocial distress" or "prolonged grief" or "trauma general effect") AND ("tool and measures") OR ("cognition" and "parents") AND "scale and measures") from inception to March 2019.

FINDINGS

Sixty-four measures were identified to be applied for measuring traumas' psychosocial effects on children. Anxiety and depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sexual abuse, trauma general effect and stress were among the important emanated tools to the assessment of posttrauma psychosocial predicaments in children.

CONCLUSION

Few measures are identified to measure post trauma fear, prolonged grief and psychosocial distress in young children. However; a suitable scale for assessment of parents' cognition about general effects of traumas and parents' cognition about effects of trauma on children is less emphasized in current literature.