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The Williams pipeline disaster: A controlled study of a technological accident
Author(s) -
Realmuto George M.,
Wagner Nancy,
Bartholow John
Publication year - 1991
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.2490040403
Subject(s) - psychiatry , relocation , psychology , stressor , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , suicide prevention , posttraumatic stress , poison control , clinical psychology , medicine , medical emergency , computer science , programming language
This study reports the results of a neighborhood interview for Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms 13 months after a manmade technological disaster. Interviews with 24 victims found 3 who satisfied DSM‐III‐R criteria for PTSD. However, a low community response rate of 58%, resident relocation and other factors raise the possibility of sampling bias and results should be considered cautiously. Victims experiencing PTSD symptoms were more likely to be female, older, and having a history of psychiatric treatment. Some PTSD symptoms were more frequent than others, especially the avoidance symptoms of amnesia, diminished interest and detachment, which had a sensitivity of 63% and a specificity of 100%. One particular arousal symptom, sleep difficulty, was generally confined to female victims. The study corroborates the findings of larger disasters regarding the importance of certain characteristics of individuals that place them at greater risk for psychological morbidity following a disaster. Further studies are needed to define the unique characteristics of circumscribed disasters, such as social, religious or geographical parameters that may mitigate or compound the effect of a disaster.