Earthquake-related stressors associated with suicidality, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress in adolescents from Muisne after the earthquake 2016 in Ecuador

Abstract

Background: The Ecuadorian earthquake in April 16th was the second strongest and deadliest in 2016 worldwide, with approximately one million people affected. In this paper, we analyzed the psychological impact and the relationship between mental health events and various earthquake-related stressors related to the earthquake, 9 months after the event. Methods: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study, applying an anonymous survey to 316 adolescents (13-19 years old) from Muisne, Ecuador. Suicidal tendency, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress (PTSD) were evaluated via the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS), Spence Children's Anxiety Scale, Okasha Suicidality Scale, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the adapted seven-questions earthquake-related stressors survey. Results: We found a high prevalence of suicidal ideations and behavior, posttraumatic stress, depression and anxiety compared to international studies. Even though adolescents currently living in shelters had higher levels of anxiety, their suicidal tendency was significantly lower than those living in their own or their relatives' home. Finally, the earthquake-related stressors were not associated with suicidality and mental health events, with the exception of economic damage suffered by the family. Conclusions: High levels of depression, post-traumatic stress and anxiety among high-school students were found, especially among those who have suffered serious economic damage. The economic impact in their families and high unemployment rates among their parents seems to be related to lack of hope and favorable perspectives for their future, situation that might lead to lead to emotional disturbances and psychological disorders. Although prolonged homelessness experience in shelters may be a stressful occurrence, might also be related with spiritual growth among adolescents, and may work as a protective factor against suicidal ideations and attempts.

Risk factors of post-traumatic stress disorder 10 years after Wenchuan earthquake: a population-based case–control study

“…The results of this study showed that chronic disease is related to PTSD symptoms. Some previous studies have reached similar conclusions (Gigantesco et al, 2013;Guo et al, 2014;Liao et al, 2019). A study of Fukushima nuclear accident survivors found that, on the one hand, chronic diseases before accidents are one of the predictors of PTSD symptoms; on the other hand, PTSD increases the risks of chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, coronary heart disease, etc.…”

“…Consistent with the results of this study, a negative correlation between financial constraints and PTSD symptoms was also observed among survivors of the L'Aquila earthquake, Ecuador earthquake, Hurricane Katrina and mudslides in southwestern China (Chen et al ., 2007 ; Gigantesco et al ., 2013 ; Chen et al ., 2014 ; Gerstner et al ., 2020 ). A review on poverty and disasters pointed out that the impact of disasters on victims varies with social class; compared with the rich, the poor are more vulnerable to trauma both physically and mentally (Fothergill and Peek, 2004 ).…”

Behavioral and sociodemographic predictors of anxiety and depression in patients under epidemiological surveillance for COVID-19 in Ecuador

“…[32]. On the other hand, a recently published study suggest that younger populations are at greater risk of developing depression and anxiety after experiencing a shocking and stressing event as reported in 2020 [33].…”

Deprem travmasının erken dönem psikolojik etkileri ve olası risk faktörleri

“…Bu çalışmada 13-19 yaş grubu ergenler değerlendirilmiştir. Sonucunda travma sonrası stres bozukluğu, depresif bozukluk, anksiyete bozukluğu ve intihar düşüncesinde artış saptanmıştır 20 . 976 yılında Çin Tangshan eyaletinde yaşanan ve 240.000 kişinin ölümü ile sonuçlanan depremden 37 yıl sonra bir çalışma yapılmıştır.…”