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The Long‐term Psychological Effects of a Disaster Experienced in Adolescence: I: The Incidence and Course of PTSD
Author(s) -
Yule William,
Bolton Derek,
Udwin Orlee,
Boyle Stephanie,
O'Ryan Dominic,
Nurrish Julie
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/1469-7610.00635
Subject(s) - incidence (geometry) , psychology , psychiatry , injury prevention , suicide prevention , traumatic stress , poison control , young adult , occupational safety and health , clinical psychology , pediatrics , medicine , medical emergency , developmental psychology , physics , pathology , optics
Previous studies have shown that children and adolescents exposed to traumatic experience in a disaster can suffer from high levels of post‐traumatic stress. The present paper is the first a series reporting on the long‐term follow‐up of a group of young adults who as teenagers had survived a shipping disaster—the sinking of the “Jupiter” in Greek waters—between 5 and 8 years previously. The general methodology of the follow‐up study as a whole is described, and the incidence and long‐term course of Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is the first study of its kind on a relatively large, representative sample of survivors, using a standardised diagnostic interview, and comparing survivors with a community control group. Survivors of the Jupiter disaster ( N = 217), and 87 young people as controls, were interviewed using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) . Of the 217 survivors, 111 (51.7%) had developed PTSD at some time during the follow‐up period, compared with an incidence in the control group of 3.4% ( N = 87). In the large majority of cases of PTSD in the survivors for whom time of onset was recorded, 90%( N = 110), onset was not delayed, being within 6 months of the disaster. About a third of those survivors who developed PTSD (30%, N = 111) recovered within a year of onset, through another third (34%, N = 111) were still suffering from the disorder at the time of follow‐up, between 5 and 8 years after the disaster. Issues relating to the generalisability of these findings are discussed.