Trajectories of Emotional Symptoms and Peer Relationship Problems in Children after Nuclear Disaster: Evidence from the Fukushima Health Management Survey

Abstract

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, which occurred in March 2011, is having long-term effects on children. We planned this study to describe the trajectories of emotional symptoms and peer relationship problems in children and to examine potential risks and protective factors over the 35 months following the accident. The sample was 11,791 children in the first to sixth elementary grades. We identified four patterns for emotional symptoms and three patterns for peer relationship problems, using group-based trajectory modelling. For emotional symptoms, female gender, experience of tsunami and nuclear plant accident, out-of-prefecture evacuees, and insufficient physical activity were associated with the very severe trajectory. In contrast, for peer relationship problems, male gender, experience of nuclear plant accident, and insufficient physical activity were associated with the very severe trajectory. Different factors might be related to the very severe trajectories of emotional symptoms and peer relationship problems.

ICRP Publication 146: Radiological Protection of People and the Environment in the Event of a Large Nuclear Accident

“…Meanwhile, children living in evacuation centres are more prone to infectious diseases due to overcrowding and stress caused by inadequate facilities. They can also be affected psychologically, with the subsequent development of emotional problems (Oe et al, 2018). Verbal abuse and bullying of evacuated children can form an additional source of stress (Sawano et al, 2018;Oe et al, 2019).…”

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

“…A total of 79 manuscripts were extracted for the analysis. 5, Thirty-one studies (39.2%) were community surveys, 5,20,21,25,28,29,31,32,34,36,38,41,44,46,[58][59][60][61]66,76,82,83,87,91 and most of them (n = 24; 30.4%) were from the Fukushima Health Management Study (FHMS) 5,20,21,25,28,29,31,32,34,36,38,41,44,46,[58][59][60][61]66,76,82,83,87,91 -a governmental cohort study recruiting the entire population living in Fukushima prefecture. 93…”

“…93 The FHMS recruited all evacuated residents of the Fukushima prefecture as their potential participants, and the study sample size was 73 000+. 87 Several studies used a subset of this database to elaborate on the specific population, such as children, 31,32,44,58,87 mothers of young children, 5,20,28,29,34,41 and older adults. 21 For non-FHMS studies (n = 46; 60.5%), a large number of the studies used convenience samples and focused on evacuees (living in and out of the Fukushima prefecture), children, and older adults.…”

Parental Recognition of Bullying and Associated Factors Among Children After the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: A 3-Year Follow-Up Study From the Fukushima Health Management Survey

“…However, in a Japanese study, the prevalence of being bullied under a nondisaster setting was higher among girls than boys (10). We hypothesized that children whose current place of living was outside of the Fukushima Prefecture would have a higher proportion of bullying victimization, based on a previous study showing that out-of-prefecture evacuee children were at a greater risk of more severe emotional symptoms compared with children who remained living in the affected area (13).…”