Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T13:28:04.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A longitudinal study of the psychological morbidity in children due to a natural disaster

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Alexander C. McFarlane ,
Sandra K. Policansky  and
Claire Irwin
Alexander C. McFarlane*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, The Flinders University of South Australia, Australia
Sandra K. Policansky
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, The Flinders University of South Australia, Australia
Claire Irwin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, The Flinders University of South Australia, Australia
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr A. C. McFarlane, Department of Psychiatry, Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia 3042, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

This longitudinal study examined the psychological impact of a bushfire disaster on a group of 808 children aged from 5 to 12. Contrary to prediction, the prevalence of behaviour and emotional problems 2 months after the fire was less than the prevalence in a carefully selected comparison group. Rather than decrease with time, the prevalence of psychological morbidity increased significantly, being as great 26 months after the disaster as at 8 months.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , August 1987 , pp. 727 - 738
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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

American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 3rd edAPA: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Bloch, D. A., Silber, E. & Perry, S. E. (1956). Some factors in the emotional reaction of children to disaster. American Journal of Psychiatry 113, 416–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bodman, F. (1941). War conditions and the mental health of the child. British Medical Journal 486–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burke, J. D., Boris, J. F., Burns, B. J., Millstein, K. H. & Beasley, M. G. (1982). Changes in children's behaviour after a natural disaster. American Journal of Psychiatry 139, 1010–1014.Google ScholarPubMed
Condon, J. (1985). The unresearched – those who decline to participate. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 20, 87–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, H. M., Irvine, L. & Rodney, J. (1982). The prevalence of psychiatric disorder in rural school children. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 16, 43–46.Google Scholar
Courts, F. A. (1966). Psychological Statistics: An Introduction. Dorsey Press: Homewood, Illinois.Google Scholar
Green, B. L. (1982). Assessing levels of psychological impairment following disasters. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 170, 544–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, S., Byrne, D. & Duncan-Jones, P. (1981). Neurosis and the Social Environment. Academic Press: Sydney.Google Scholar
Hull, C. H. & Nie, N. H. (1981). SPSS Update 7–9. McGraw-Hill: New YorkGoogle Scholar
Kinston, W. & Rosser, R. (1974). Disasters: effects on mental and physical health. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 18, 437–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFarlane, A. C. (1986) The post-traumatic morbidity of a natural disaster: study of cases presenting for treatment. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 174, 4–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, C. J. (1976). Children of disaster: clinical observations at Buffalo Creek. American Journal of Psychiatry 133, 306–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nie, C. H., Hull, C. H. & Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K. & Bent, D. H. (1975). SPSS: Statistical Package for Social Sciences. McGraw-Hill: New York.Google Scholar
Patrick, V. & Patrick, W. K. (1981). Cyclone ′78 in Sri Lanka – the mental health trial. British Journal of Psychiatry 138, 210–216.Google Scholar
Quarantelli, E. L. (1985). An assessment of conflicting views on mental health: the consequences of traumatic events. In Trauma and Its Wake.(ed. Figley, C. R.), pp. 173–215. Brunner Mazel: New York.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. & Graham, P. (1967). A children's behaviour questionnaire for completion by teachers: preliminary findings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 8, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Tizard, J. & Whitmore, K. (1970). Education, Health and Behaviour. Longman: London.Google Scholar
Singh, B. & Raphael, B. (1981). Post-disaster morbidity of the bereaved. A possible role for preventative psychiatry? Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 169, 203–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terr, L. C. (1981). Psychic trauma in children: observation following the Chowchilla school bus kidnapping. American Journal of Psychiatry 138, 14–19.Google ScholarPubMed
Vikan, A. (1985). Psychiatric epidemiology in a sample of 1510 ten year old children. 1. Prevalence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 26, 55–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisaeth, L. (1984). Stress Reactions to an Industrial Disaster. MD Thesis, Oslo University.Google Scholar
Ziv, A. & Israeli, R. (1973). Effects of bombardment on the manifest anxiety level of children living in Kibbutzim. Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology 40, 287–291.Google Scholar