Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T13:37:28.279Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychological Distress Following Urban Earthquakes in California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Linda B. Bourque ,
Judith M. Siegel  and
Kimberley I. Shoaf
Linda B. Bourque*
Affiliation:
Professor of Community Health Sciences and Associate Director, Center for Public Health and Disaster Relief, School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
Judith M. Siegel
Affiliation:
Professor of Community Health Sciences and Associate Dean, School of Public Health, School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
Kimberley I. Shoaf
Affiliation:
Adjunct Assistant Professor and Director of Research, Center for Public Health and Disaster Relief, School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
*
PhD Box 951772, School of Public Health, Center for the Health Sciences, Los Angeles, California 90095–1772 USA E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During and following a disaster caused by a natural event, human populations are thought to be at greater risk of psychological morbidity and mortality directly attributable to increased, disaster-induced stress. Drawing both on the research of others and that conducted at the Center for Public Health and Disaster Relief of the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) following California earthquakes, this paper examines the extent to which research evidence supports these assumptions. Following a brief history of disaster research in the United States, the response of persons at the time of an earthquake was examined with particular attention to psychological morbidity; the number of deaths that can be attributed to cardiovascular events and suicides; and the extent to which and by whom, health services are used following an earthquake. The implications of research findings for practitioners in the field are discussed.

Keywords

earthquakeheart diseaseNorthridgepost-traumatic stress disorderpsychological morbidityresearchresponseservice utilizationsuicide
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , June 2002 , pp. 81 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey. 1945–1947 Reports. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
2. Quarantelli, EL, Dynes, RR: Response to social crisis and disaster. Annual Review of Sociology 1977; 3: 23–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Quarantelli, EL: An Assessment of Conflicting Views on Mental Health: The Consequences of Traumatic Events. In: Figley, F (ed), Trauma and Its Wake, New York: Brunner-Mazel, 1985, pp 173–215.Google Scholar
4. Janis, I: Air War and Emotional Stress. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951.Google Scholar
5. Kreps, GA: The worth of the NAS-NRC (1952–63) and DRC (1963–pre-sent) studies of individual and social response to disasters. In: Wright, JD, Rossi, PH (eds) Social Science and Natural Hazards. Cambridge, MA: Abt Books, 1981.Google Scholar
6. Leor, J, Poole, WK, Kloner, RA: Sudden cardiac death triggered by an earthquake. N Engl J Med 1996; 334: 413–419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Kloner, RA, Leor, J, Poole, WK, Perritt, R: Population-based analysis of the effect of the Northridge Earthquake on cardiac death in Los Angeles County, California. J Amer Coll. Card 1997; 30: 1174–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Bourque, LB, Russell, LA with the assistance of Krauss, GL, Riopelle, D, Goltz, JD, Greene, M, McAfee, S, Nathe, S: Experiences During and Responses to the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Oakland, CA: Governor's Office of Emergency Services, July 1994.Google Scholar
9. Bourque, LB, Shoaf, KI, Nguyen, LH: Survey research. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 1997; 15: 71–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Shoaf, KI, Bourque, LB, Smith, LV, with the assistance of Giangreco, C, Nguyen, LH, Sareen, H, Siegel, JM, Weiss, B: The Impact of the Northridge Earthquake on Los Angeles County: Health Effects and Responses. Report to the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, 1998.Google Scholar
11. Keane, TM, Caddell, JM, Taylor, KL: Mississippi scale for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder: Three studies in reliability and validity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1988; 56: 85–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12. Inkelas, M, Loux, LA, Bourque, LB, Widawski, M, Nguyen, LH.: Dimensionality and reliability of the civilian Mississippi scale for PTSD in a postearthquake community. Journal of Traumatic Stress 2000: 13: 149– 167.Google Scholar
13. Applied Technology Council: ATC-13 Earthquake Damage Evaluation Data for California (Technical Report). Redwood, CA: Author, 1985.Google Scholar
14. Comerio, M: Northridge Housing Losses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995.Google Scholar
15. Shoaf, KI, Sareen, HR, Nguyen, LH, Bourque, LB: Injuries as a result of California earthquakes in the past decade. Disasters 1998; 22: 218–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16. Trichopoulos, D, Katsouyanni, K, Zavilsanos, X, Tzonou, A, Dalla-Vorgia, P. Psychological stress and fatal heart attack: The Athens (1981) natural experiment. Lancet 1983; 1: 441–444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Suzuki, S, Sakamoto, S, Miki, T, Matsuo, T: Hanshin-Awaji earthquake and acute myocardial infarction. Lancet 1995; 345: 981.Google Scholar
18. Kario, K, Ohashi, T: Increased Coronary heath disease mortality after the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake among the older community on Awaji island. Journal of the American Geriatric Society 1997; 45: 610–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Logue, JN, Melick, ME, Struening, EL: A study of health and mental health status following a major natural disaster. Research in Community and Mental Health 1981; 2: 217–274.Google Scholar
20. Robins, LN, Fischback, RL, Smith, EM, Cottler, LB, Solomon, SD, Goldring, E: Impact of disaster on previously assessed mental health. In: Shore, J, (ed): Disaster Stress Studies: New Methods and Findings. Washington, D.C., American Psychiatric Press, 1986.Google Scholar
21. Shore, James (ed): Disaster Stress Studies: New Methods and Findings. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 1986.Google Scholar
22. Tierney, KJ: Disasters and Mental Health: A Critical Look at Knowledge and Practice. Prepared for the Italy-United States Conference on Disasters, 5–10 October, 1986.Google Scholar
23. Tierney KEmergency, J. Preparedness and Response. Practical Lessons From the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1994, pp 105–128.Google Scholar
24. Krug, EG, Kresnow, MJ, Peddicord, JP, Dahlberg, LL, Powell, KE, Crosby, AE, Annest, JL: Suicide after natural disasters. N Engl J Med 1998; 338: 373–378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25. Krug, EG, Kresnow, MJ, Peddicord, JP, Dahlberg, LL, Powell, KE, Crosby, AE, Annest, JL: Retraction: suicide after natural disasters. N Engl J Med 1999; 340: 148–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26. Norris, FH, Perilla, JL: The revised civilian Mississippi scale for PTSD: Reliability, validity, and cross-language stability. Journal of Traumatic Stress 1996; 9: 285–298.Google Scholar
27. Siegel, JM: Emotional Injury and the Northridge, California Earthquake. Natural Hazards Review 2000; 204–211.Google Scholar
28. Siegel, JM., Shoaf, KI, Bourque, LB: The C-Mississippi Scale for PTSD in post-earthquake communities. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 2000; 18: 339–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29. McFall, ME, Smith, DS, Mackay, PW, Tarver, DJ: Reliability and validity of the Mississippi scale for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Assessment: Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1990; 2: 114–121.Google Scholar
30. Vreven, DL, Gudanowski, DM, King, LA, King, DW: The civilian version of the Mississippi PTSD scale: A psychometric evaluation. Journal of Traumatic Stress 1995; 8: 91–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31. Shoaf, KI, Bourque, LB, Giangreco, C, Weiss, B: Suicides in Los Angeles County in Relation to the Northridge Earthquake. Submitted to Prehosp Disast Med 2002 for publication.Google Scholar
32. Shoaf, KI: Predictors of Disaster Service Utilization Following the January 17, 1994 Northridge Earthquake. University of California, Los Angeles. Dissertation submitted for the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.PH), 1997.Google Scholar
33. Shoaf, KI, Bourque, LB: Correlates of damage to residences following the Northridge earthquake, as reported in a population-based survey of Los Angeles County residents. Earthquake Spectra 1999; 15: 145–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar