Effects On Mental Health Assessed After Devastating Tsunami In Sumatra

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Mental Health;  Depression
Article Date: 16 Jul 2008 - 16:00 PDT

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Researchers examined the levels of post traumatic stress reactivity (PTSR) of over 20,000 adult tsunami survivors by analyzing survey data from coastal Aceh and North Sumatra, Indonesia. The findings are from the first wave of a long-term prospective longitudinal follow-up study examining the nature and course of mental health consequences and moderating influences among a population in Indonesia affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Survey respondents were classified into three damage zones using satellite imagery of their pre-tsunami locations of residence from before and after the disaster.

Overall, 34 percent of the respondents experienced the trauma of either hearing the tsunami wave or screams about it and 6 percent watched family or friends struggle or disappear. Both exposure to traumatic events at the time of the tsunami and subsequent PTSR scores were highest for respondents from heavily damaged areas. Scores declined over time for respondents from all three damage zones. Gender and age were significant predictors of PTSR, whereas socioeconomic status before the tsunami was not.

"We expect that this 5-year study will provide important knowledge about long-term mental health outcomes after catastrophic disaster and a rationale for attention by international health organizations to sustain interventions beyond the immediate postcrisis period, and will guide the use of stratified public mental health postdisaster programs," the study's authors forecast. [From: "Mental Health in Sumatra After the Tsunami,"].

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