Psychosocial factors associated with chronic distress in mothers of young children 2 years after the Fukushima nuclear accident

Abstract

The 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused a meltdown at Fukushima nuclear power plant. This paper examines the association between demographics or exposure to potentially upsetting events following Fukushima disaster and psychological and physical well-being of mothers with young children 2 years after the Fukushima nuclear accident. The sample consisted of mothers with preschool children still inhabiting in low level radiation contamination area, 30~90 km distant from the plant. In addition to exposure status, the questionnaire obtained data on radiation anxiety, coping behavior, perceived economic stress and stress moderators. The dependent variables were measured by the K6, SQD (Screening Questionnaire for Disaster Mental Health).Overall, mental health of mothers with young children have been polarized as time passes. The conflict about coping behavior to radiation risk and economic stress increased the vulnerability of mothers to subsequent distress, PTSD, depression. It was confirmed a husband's childcare participation as a stress moderator. Longterm follow-up study is needed to confirm that the progress of mental health of mothers with young children.

Mental health consequences for survivors of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster: a systematic review. Part 1: psychological consequences

“…55 Rates of positively screened individuals fluctuated to a more considerable degree in studies using convenience samples. The rates tended to be higher in vulnerable populations, such as evacuees living in temporary housing, 24 mothers of young children, 84 nurses, 57 caregivers, 19 and NPP workers. 75 Only one study reported no significant difference in PTSS between the study and the control groups among the medical school volunteers.…”

“…About two-thirds of the examined papers (n = 51; 64.6%) were written in English whereas 28 (35.4%) were written in Japanese. 15,18,25,26,29,35,[47][48][49][50]51,54,56,62,63,[66][67][68]70,72,77,81,84,86,88,91,92 Most studies (57; 75.0%) had a single-wave, cross-sectional design. A small portion of the studies had multiple waves of cross-sectional design (n = 15; 19.0%) 15,20,23,27,28,34,35,52,55,[58][59][60][61]87,88 ; among them, three studies (3.8%) conducted a trajectory analysis.…”

“…[97][98][99][100][101][102] The criteria for screen-positive individuals widely differed between studies, and the screening-positive rates ranged from 8.3% to 65.1%. 53,84 Likewise, depressive symptoms were measured using different measures and thresholds (eg, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D], 98 World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index [WHO-5], 99 Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, 100 Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9] 101 ), and rates for screen-positive individuals ranged in-between 12.0% and 52.0%. 79,84 In order to measure PTSS, most studies employed either the Impact of Event Scale-Revised 102 or PTSD Checklist-Specific.…”