Predictors of severe psychological distress trajectory after nuclear disaster: evidence from the Fukushima Health Management Survey

Abstract

ObjectivesThe Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, which occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011, may have a considerable long-term impact on the lives of area residents. The aims of this study were to determine the trajectories of psychological distress using 3-year consecutive data, and to find predictive factors of severe distress that may also prove useful for public health intervention.MethodsData were obtained on 12 371 residents who were registered in the municipalities categorised as complete evacuation areas for 3 years after the disaster and who completed an assessment in each of the 3 years.ResultsUsing group-based trajectory modelling, we identified four trajectory patterns distinguished by the levels of psychological distress, which gradually improved over time in all trajectories. Subjective sleep insufficiency, problem drinking, poor social support and perception of radiation risk 3 years after the accident were associated with the severity of psychological distress, according to the multivariate analysis.ConclusionsThe identified factors may be useful for community-based mental healthcare over the long term following a nuclear disaster.

Unreliable Information as a Risk Factor for Worse Mental Fatigue among Residents in Fukushima after the Nuclear Power Station Accident

“…Cluster 5 (major media only) was significantly associated with covariate adjustment. These findings are consistent with those of previous research, showing a strong relationship among trusting information from friends, TV, and radio, obtaining information via the Internet from sources other than those supported by scientific evidence, and high-risk perception (Murakami et al 2016), which was a strong risk factor for mental distress after the nuclear power station accident (Suzuki et al 2015;Oe et al 2016b;Miura et al 2017). Furthermore, our findings that those who obtained information from institutions, including national, municipal, and public relations institutions, responded with low mental fatigue are also consistent with those of the previous study that showed that risk perception was lower among people who trusted information from the central government compared with those who did not (Murakami et al 2016).…”

“…A number of these displaced residents suffered from mental health issues (Oe et al 2016a). According to the Fukushima Health Management Survey, the perception of radiation risk was associated with psychological distress after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident (Suzuki et al 2015;Oe et al 2016b). Likewise, this finding was consistent with a previous study indicating that mental health issues after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster were related to risk perception (Bromet and Havenaar 2007).…”

Trajectories of psychological stress among public servants after the Great East Japan Earthquake

“…Many studies revealed that the stress trajectory follows some distinct patterns (Bonanno and Diminich, 2013;Norris et al, 2009). However, it has been shown that the average value of distress will linearly decrease over time (Oe et al, 2016;Yabe et al, 2014). Our results reveal that distress not only decreased rapidly linearly, but also changed cubically.…”

Noncommunicable Diseases After the Great East Japan Earthquake: Systematic Review, 2011–2016

“…People who had the following characteristics or status were likely to have psychological distress: female, lost their family members, experienced residential damage, had anxiety about radioactive contamination, had difficult economic status, and had weak social support. [90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][117][118][119][120]122,[124][125][126][127][128][129][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140]143,144,147,151,152,155 Psychological effects of the...…”