Children exposed to a natural disaster: psychological consequences eight years after 2004 tsunami
Engelsk titel: Children exposed to a natural disaster: psychological consequences eight years after 2004 tsunami
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Författare:
Adebäck, Petra
;
Schulman, Abbe
;
Nilsson, Doris
Email: petra.adeback@sll.se
Språk: Eng
Antal referenser: 33
Dokumenttyp:
Artikel
;
Jämförande studie
UI-nummer: 18040116
Sammanfattning
Background: There is a need for studies that follow up children and adolescents for many years post
disaster since earlier studies have shown that exposure during natural disasters constitutes a risk factor
for poor psychological health.
Aims: The main aim was to examine whether there was an association between severity of exposures
during a natural disaster experienced in childhood or adolescence and posttraumatic stress symptoms,
psychological distress, self-rated health, diagnosis of depression, anxiety or worry, thoughts about or
attempted suicide, physical symptoms or daily functioning eight years later in young adulthood. A
second aim was to compare psychological distress and self-rated health of exposed young adults with
a matched population-based sample.
Method: Young adults, who experienced the 2004 tsunami as children between 10 and 15 years of
age, responded to a questionnaire eight years post disaster. The results were compared to a matched
population sample.
Results: The results showed that the likelihood for negative psychological outcomes was higher for
those who had been exposed to several types of exposures during this natural disaster.
Conclusions: The negative psychological impact on children and adolescents can still be present eight
years post-disaster and seems to have association with the type of exposure; loss, physical presence
and subjective experience. It is important for clinicians, who meet young adults seeking help, to be
conscious about the impact as long as eight years post disaster and to be aware of possible clinical
implications associated with severity of exposures.