Mental health problems among children and adolescents experiencing two major earthquakes in remote mountainous regions: A longitudinal study

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• 作者：Wanjie Tang^a ; ^b ; ^c ; Jingdong Zhao^a ; Yi Lu^a ; Tingting Yan^c ; ^d ; Lijuan Wang^e ; Jun Zhang^c ; ¹ ; ^{zhang2000jun200@163.com} ; Jiuping Xu^a ; ¹ ; ^{xujiuping@scu.edu.cn}
• 刊名：Comprehensive Psychiatry
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：January 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：72
• 期：Complete
• 页码：66-73
• 全文大小：252 K
• 卷排序：72

文摘

Millions of children were exposed to major earthquake in China, with serious psychological and developmental consequences. To obtain accurate rate of post-disaster related disorder and identify predictors may help inform post-disaster rescue and rehabilitation efforts. The present longitudinal study explored correlations of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of juvenile survivors of the Ya'an and Wenchuan earthquakes in China with their trajectories of post-disaster related disorder.MethodsA total of 435 Chinese children and adolescents who survived the 2013 Ya'an earthquake were recruited from six primary, secondary and high schools in Baoxing County. All survivors were assessed at 12 months after the disaster, when a trained psychiatrist assessed mental health problems in a face-to-face structured interview, and 153 survivors were followed up at 30 months after the earthquake via telephone.ResultsThe 12-month assessment indicated a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence of 43.9% as well as depression (20.9%) or the criteria for both PTSD and depression (18.2%) and the other disorder (0.9%). The 30-month assessment indicated that 15.7% of subjects met the criteria for PTSD, 21.6% met the criteria for depression. No subjects met the criteria for other affective or anxiety disorders. Significant predictors of PTSD and depression were death in the family, previous earthquake experience, a poor parent–child relationship and economic pressure or poverty.LimitationsClinical interview face to face is quite different from via telephone and the attrition rate in the longitudinal cohort is high, which would directly affect our results of the assessment.ConclusionsPTSD and depression may be as prevalent and persistent in disaster victims in China as elsewhere, and high co-comorbidities remain poorly understood. Although many adolescents recover over time, some exhibit chronic, delayed-onset PTSD and depression, especially those with poor relationships with their parents or those living in precarious economic conditions. Family-based therapy may be needed to support child and adolescent trauma survivors in order to prevent mental illness.