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The psychological sequelae of disaster stress prospectively and retrospectively evaluated
Author(s) -
Bravo Milagros,
Rubio-Stipec Maritza,
Canino Glorisa J.,
Woodbury Michael A.,
Ribera Julio C.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00931236
Subject(s) - health psychology , psychological trauma , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , psychology , population , poison control , public health , injury prevention , clinical psychology , psychiatry , occupational safety and health , medicine , medical emergency , environmental health , nursing , pathology
Aimed to document the psychological sequelae of a disaster in the adult (17-68 years) population of the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, by surveying 912 persons (including 375 previously interviewed) with a Spanish version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. A rigorous methodology, which included both retrospective and prospective designs, was used, enabled by the occurrence of a catastrophic disaster only a year after a comprehensive survey was completed. Framed in a stress theoretical perspective, disaster effects for new depressive, somatic, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were identified, even after adjusting for demographic and methodologic factors. All the effects, however, were relatively small, suggesting that most disaster victims were rather resilient to the development of new psychological symptoms. Comparison of results with previous findings and its implications for both disaster and stress research are discussed, as well as the role of community psychologists in disaster action.