dc.creator | Stough, Laura M. | |
dc.creator | North, Carol S. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-02-23T21:38:14Z | |
dc.date.available | 2018-02-23T21:38:14Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2018 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Stough, L. M., & North. C. S. (2018). The association of adverse mental health effects with repeated exposure to disasters. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 30(1), 17-24. | en |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/166177 | |
dc.description.abstract | BACKGROUND: It has been assumed that the mental health effects of repeated trauma should be incrementally greater than simple additive effects of separate trauma. However, repeated disasters afflicting the same population are uncommon. This study investigated psychiatric disorders following differential exposures to repeated disasters.
METHODS: Mental health effects of exposure to repeated disasters of 547 individuals exposed to either flooding, tornadoes, dioxin contamination, and/or radioactive well water. Structured diagnostic interviews assessed prevalence of psychiatric disorders both before and after each of the disasters. A multiple logistic regression model was used to test the association of post-disaster disorders after each flood with the total number of flood exposures, controlling for lifetime pre-disaster disorders.
RESULTS: Approximately one-fifth to one-third of the disaster-exposed groups had a psychiatric disorder following exposure to disaster, but disaster-related PTSD and incident psychiatric disorders were nonexistent or rare in both post-disaster periods. Most identified post-disaster psychopathology consisted of alcohol use which predated the disasters.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that alcohol use disorder may be more representative of a risk factor for, rather than an outcome of, flood exposure. This possibility is supported by the very high lifetime pre-flood prevalence of alcohol use disorders in flood plain populations. | en |
dc.description.sponsorship | Research Scientist Award MH 00334, US Public Health Service Grant MH 14677, the MacArthur Foundation Risk Factor Network, NIH grant #R03 MH52481 to Dr. North, and Research Education in Disaster Mental Health Award, Trustees of Dartmouth College 5R25MH068298 through the National Institute of Mental Health to Dr. Stough | en |
dc.language.iso | en_US | |
dc.publisher | Frontline Medical Communications | |
dc.subject | disaster | en |
dc.subject | mental health | en |
dc.subject | alcohol use | en |
dc.title | The association of adverse mental health effects with repeated exposure to disasters | en |
dc.type | Article | en |
local.department | Educational Psychology | en |