Effect of the Seven Critical Elements on Life Recovery Following the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster

The purpose of this study is to compare the effect size of seven critical elements on the life recovery in three prefectures, Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, and Fukushima Prefecture, which were severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster. This study used the 2016 Tohoku Life Recovery Survey (N = 2111, response rate: 35.2%) for the analysis. The dataset was divided into each prefecture sample to compare the effects of seven critical elements on life recovery in the three prefectures. We obtained samples from Fukushima (N = 603), Iwate (N = 781), and Miyagi (N = 727). First, the distribution of life recovery by the three prefectures was confirmed. The results showed that those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster in Miyagi have a higher quality of life recovery. Finally, we compared the effects of seven critical elements on life recovery among the three prefectures’ models using GLM analysis. From the comparison of effect size (partial η 2 ) and discussion, three points are shown. 1) In the Fukushima model, the effect size of physical/mental stress management and social ties was larger than in the other models. 2) The effects of 1) were caused by the experience of diaspora (nuclear disaster-caused displacement). 3) If forced diaspora can create good relationships with local people, the positive effects of social ties on life recovery for such people are larger than for those who have not experienced diaspora.