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Social support and psychological symptomatology following a natural disaster
Author(s) -
Cook Jerome D.,
Bickman Leonard
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.2490030406
Subject(s) - somatization , distress , social support , depression (economics) , psychology , natural disaster , anxiety , flood myth , psychiatry , clinical psychology , medicine , social psychology , geography , meteorology , economics , macroeconomics , archaeology
The effects of perceived availability of social support on psychological symptomatology following a natural disaster were studied in a sample of victims of a major flood in Roanoke, Virginia. Ninety‐six subjects were administered questionnaires that measured self‐reported levels of depression, anxiety, and somatization 1 week after the disaster and four additional times within 6 months after the disaster. A questionnaire mailed 3 months after the disaster assessed perceived availability of social support. Results indicated that subjects experienced severe distress immediately following the disaster, that this distress decreased sharply 6 weeks after the flood, and decreased more gradually in the following months. Perceived availability of social support was not related to distress immediately following the disaster nor 5 months afterwards. Social support and symptomatology were significantly correlated during the intermediate period.