The psychological sequelae of disaster stress prospectively and retrospectively evaluated

Bravo, Milagros; Rubio‐Stipec, Maritza; Canino, Glorisa; Woodbury, Michael; Ribera, Julio C.

doi:10.1007/bf00931236

Cited by 136 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Because an island-wide mentalhealth survey had only recently been completed, it was possible to assess the storm's psychological impact prospectively by comparing predisaster and postdisaster adjustment. In summarizing the results of such an analysis, Bravo, Rubio-Stipec, Canio, Woodbury, and Ribera (1990) concluded that although the storm did result in increased depression, somatic complaints, and PTSD symptoms, ''all the effects, however, were relatively small, suggesting that most disaster victims were rather resilient to the development of new psychological symptoms'' (p. 662).…”

Section: Toward An Individual-differences Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weighing the Costs of Disaster

Bonanno

Brewin

Kaniasty

et al. 2010

Psychol Sci Public Interest

986

443

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SummaryDisasters typically strike quickly and cause great harm. Unfortunately, because of the spontaneous and chaotic nature of disasters, the psychological consequences have proved exceedingly difficult to assess. Published reports have often overestimated a disaster's psychological cost to survivors, suggesting, for example, that many if not most survivors will develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); at the same time, these reports have underestimated the scope of the disaster's broader impact in other domains. We argue that such ambiguities can be attributed to methodological limitations. When we focus on only the most scientifically sound research-studies that use prospective designs or include multivariate analyses of predictor and outcome measures-relatively clear conclusions about the psychological parameters of disasters emerge. We summarize the major aspects of these conclusions in five key points and close with a brief review of possible implications these points suggest for disaster intervention.1. Disasters cause serious psychological harm in a minority of exposed individuals. People exposed to disaster show myriad psychological problems, including PTSD, grief, depression, anxiety, stress-related health costs, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation. However, severe levels of these problems are typically observed only in a relatively small minority of exposed individuals. In adults, the proportion rarely exceeds 30% of most samples, and in the vast majority of methodologically sound studies, the level is usually considerably lower. Among youth, elevated symptoms are common in the first few months following a high-impact disaster, but again, chronic symptom elevations rarely exceed 30% of the youth sampled.2. Disasters produce multiple patterns of outcome, including psychological resilience. In addition to chronic dysfunction, other patterns of disaster outcome are typically observed. Some survivors recover their psychological equilibrium within a period ranging from several months to 1 or 2 years. A sizeable proportion, often more than half of those exposed, experience only transient distress and maintain a stable trajectory of healthy functioning or resilience. Resilient outcomes have been evidenced across different methodologies, including recent studies that identified patterns of outcome using relatively sophisticated data analytic approaches, such as latent growth mixture modeling.3. Disaster outcome depends on a combination of risk and resilience factors. As is true for most highly aversive events, individual differences in disaster outcomes are informed by a number of unique risk and resilience factors, including variables related to the context in which the disaster occurs, variables related to proximal exposure during the disaster, and variables related to distal exposure in the disaster's aftermath. Multivariate studies indicate that there is no one single dominant predictor of disaster outcomes. Rather, as with traumatic life events more generally, most predictor variables exert small...

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Section: Toward An Individual-differences Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weighing the Costs of Disaster

Bonanno

Brewin

Kaniasty

et al. 2010

Psychol Sci Public Interest

986

443

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In the first study, population data on psychiatric disorders obtained a year before the occurrence of torrential rains and mudslides in Puerto Rico (43)(44)(45) were used in a prospective examination of predisaster and postdisaster somatoform symptoms in the unexposed population compared with those of the disaster-exposed group. Disaster exposure was significantly associated with development of new, medically unexplained physical symptoms not present before the disaster, especially gastrointestinal and pseudoneurological symptoms.…”

Section: Somatization In Disaster Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Somatization in survivors of catastrophic trauma: a methodological review.

North

2002

Environ Health Perspect

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The literature on mental health effects of catastrophic trauma such as community disasters focuses on posttraumatic stress disorder. Somatization disorder is not listed among the classic responses to disaster, nor have other somatoform disorders been described in this literature. Nondiagnostic "somatization," "somatization symptoms," and "somatic symptoms" form the basis of most information about somatization in the literature. However, these concepts have not been validated, and therefore this work suffers from multiple methodological problems of ascertainment and interpretation. Future research is encouraged to consider many methodological issues in obtaining adequate data to address questions about the association of somatization with traumatic events, including a) appropriate comparison groups, b) satisfactory definition and measurement of somatization, c) exclusion of medical explanations for the symptoms, d) recognition of somatizers' spurious attribution of symptoms to medical causes, e) collection of data from additional sources beyond single-subject interviews, f) validation of diagnosis-unrelated symptom reporting or reconsideration of symptoms within diagnostic frameworks, g) separation of somatization after an event into new (incident) and preexisting categories, h) development of research models that include sufficient variables to examine the broader scope of potential relationships, and i) novel consideration of alternative causal directionalities.

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“…In our study, the consistence of results with other biophysical reports and the congruence between the magnitude of transformations and the impacts on levels of well-being in different geographical sectors, suggests the validity of respondents' recall. Natural disasters are unexpected and it is unlikely to plan for diachronic designs to count on systematic preevent information (Bravo et al 1990). Therefore, retrospectively assessing people's experiences represents a practicable method in the face of natural disasters and abrupt ecosystem transformations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Services and Abrupt Transformations in a Coastal Wetland Social-Ecological System: Tubul-Raqui after the 2010 Earthquake in Chile

Marín¹,

Gelcich²,

Castilla³

2014

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Natural disasters can trigger sudden transformations and move ecosystems to different states where the provision of ecosystem services is altered. These changes in ecosystem services affect local communities' well-being and challenge users' adaptation capacities. We used the ecosystem services framework to understand the impacts of abrupt transformations, in a coastal wetland, associated to a ~ 1.6 meter coseismic uplift after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile. Using mixed methods we (1) identified and prioritized ecosystem services from Tubul-Raqui wetland; (2) assessed conditions of services and human well-being before and after the earthquake; (3) investigated postcatastrophe human adaptations and responses; and (4) explored users' interests and visions about possible future social-ecological pathways. Results show spatially diversified effects of the uplift on ecosystem services, both negative and positive, representing threats and opportunities for different user groups around the wetland. The total loss of the cultivated seaweed "pelillo" is associated with the most manifest reduction in perceptions of well-being among coastal users. Adaptive capacities triggered by pre-existing livelihood portfolios generated intensification in the exploitation of less impacted or enhanced ecosystem services which could be reducing resilience. Results show that two years after the transformation there is little attempt to create untried, new beginnings in the Tubul-Raqui wetland from which user groups could evolve to a more innovative livelihood and resource management system after the shift. Although visions about the future are not homogeneous among users, common interests regarding the conservation of key services are shared. The analysis of abrupt transformations through an ecosystem services approach provides a powerful framework for the study of environmental change and associated impacts on local communities.

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The psychological sequelae of disaster stress prospectively and retrospectively evaluated

Cited by 136 publications

References 16 publications

Weighing the Costs of Disaster

Weighing the Costs of Disaster

Somatization in survivors of catastrophic trauma: a methodological review.

Ecosystem Services and Abrupt Transformations in a Coastal Wetland Social-Ecological System: Tubul-Raqui after the 2010 Earthquake in Chile

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