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Status of natural disaster victims' health and recovery 1 and 3 years later
Author(s) -
Murphy Shirley A.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
research in nursing and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1098-240X
pISSN - 0160-6891
DOI - 10.1002/nur.4770090410
Subject(s) - natural disaster , occupational safety and health , poison control , suicide prevention , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , natural (archaeology) , medicine , medical emergency , environmental health , psychology , history , geography , archaeology , pathology , meteorology
Bereaved, property loss, and control groups (N = 155) studied 11 months following the 1980 volcanic eruption of Mt. St. Helens were recontacted 35 months postdisaster to test the hypotheses that the greater the loss experienced, the higher the stress, and the poorer the health. In general, the hypotheses were suppored. Even though mental distress decreased between the two data collection periods the mental health of the bereaved group remained poorer than both the property loss and control groups. At 3 years postdisaster, only 4% of the study participants repored complete recovery from disaster loss. Findings are compared with those of other recent disasters and clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.