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The effect of relocation after a natural disaster
Author(s) -
Najarian Louis M.,
Goenjian Armen K.,
Pelcovitz David,
Mandel Francine,
Najarian Berj
Publication year - 2001
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 - 10.1023/a:1011108622795
Subject(s) - relocation , depression (economics) , natural disaster , psychiatry , suicide prevention , poison control , demography , psychology , injury prevention , clinical psychology , medicine , medical emergency , geography , sociology , meteorology , computer science , economics , macroeconomics , programming language
Twenty‐five women remaining in a city devastated by an earthquake were compared with 24 relocated survivors and 25 comparison women. The women were administered a structured PTSD interview, the Hamilton Depression Scale, and SCL‐90‐R. The women in both exposed groups showed significantly more symptoms of avoidance, arousal, and total PTSD than the comparison group. The women in the relocated city had significantly higher depression scores than the women in the earthquake city. On the SCL‐90‐R, relocated women were most symptomatic and comparison group women were least symptomatic. Relocation after a disaster appears to be associated more with risk for depression than with PTSD in situations where recovery is delayed following the trauma.