Background: Direct exposure to natural disasters and related losses are associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is less clear whether indirect media exposure is associated with PTSD.Objective: This study investigated key exposure-related risk factors for PTSD and examined the effect of media exposure on the prevalence of disaster-related PTSD.Method: Typhoon Hato directly hit Macao on 23 August 2017. It was one of the most serious natural disasters ever to strike southern China. One month after the event, 1876 Chinese university students in Macao were recruited into a cross-sectional study (mean age 20.01 years, SD = 2.63; 66.2% female). Self-reported typhoon exposure, media use and exposure to disaster-related content, and PTSD symptoms were collected using an electronic survey. Univariable analyses assessed associations between risk factors and PTSD, which were then included in a series of multivariable logistic regressions.Results: The prevalence of PTSD was 5.1%. Adjusted models demonstrated that being male (vs female) [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07–2.63], home damage (aOR = 2.86, 95% CI 1.71–4.78), witnessing people injured (aOR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.36–4.00), and almost drowning during the storm (aOR = 8.99, 95% CI 1.92–41.99) were associated with PTSD. After adjusting for direct exposure, indirect exposure to disaster-related social media content, including information related to drowning victims (aOR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.00–1.67) and residents’ emotional reactions (aOR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.44–2.72), was associated with PTSD. Viewing more information about the storm itself (aOR = 0.37, 95% CI 0.28–0.49) and images of heroic acts (aOR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.55–0.94) were significantly associated with lower odds of PTSD.Conclusion: These findings add to the literature demonstrating that some types of media use and certain media content following a natural disaster are associated with PTSD.

The current study examines whether the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia) can be assessed reliably and validly by means of a self-report instrument in di¤erent countries of the world. All items of the GELOPH 254 R. T. Proyer et al. (Ruch and Titze 1998;Ruch and Proyer 2008b) were translated to the local language of the collaborator (42 languages in total). In total, 22,610 participants in 93 samples from 73 countries completed the GELOPH. Across all samples the reliability of the 15-item questionnaire was high (mean alpha of .85) and in all samples the scales appeared to be unidimensional. The endorsement rates for the items ranged from 1.31% through 80.00% to a single item. Variations in the mean scores of the items were more strongly related to the culture in a country and not to the language in which the data were collected. This was also supported by a multidimensional scaling analysis with standardized mean scores of the items from the GELOPH3154. This analysis identified two dimensions that further helped explaining the data (i.e., insecure vs. intense avoidant-restrictive and low vs. high suspicious tendencies towards the laughter of others). Furthermore, multiple samples derived from one country tended to be (with a few exceptions) highly similar. The study shows that gelotophobia can be assessed reliably by means of a self-report instrument in cross-cultural research. This study enables further studies of the fear of being laughed at with regard to di¤erences in the prevalence and putative causes of gelotophobia in comparisons to di¤erent cultures.

Medical workplace violence (MWV) is a key occupational hazard facing medical professionals worldwide. MWV involves incident where medical staff are abused, threatened and assaulted. MWV affects the health and well-being of medical staff exposed, causes significant erosion of patient-physician trust and leads to poorer health outcomes for patients. In China, the prevalence of MWV appears to be rising. Laws were enacted to keep medical staff safe, but clear surveillance and enforcement is needed to improve the condition. In the current essay, we conducted a systematic literature review to identify secondary and tertiary prevention programmes designed to ameliorate psychological suffering following MWV. This review identified only 10 published studies. A critical gap in the intervention literature exists with regard to addressing the public health burden of MWV.

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This study assessed the extent of secondary trauma among 102 Chinese soldiers who were rescuers in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Using measures of secondary trauma, rescuer burnout, rescuer satisfaction, rescuer resilience, and life satisfaction, it was found that the rescuers scored in the low-risk range for trauma and burnout, in the moderate-to-high range for rescuer satisfaction, and in the high range for resilience. Also found was a significant positive correlation between trauma and burnout and negative correlations between resilience and trauma and between resilience and burnout. Additionally, high levels of satisfaction with physical wellness, medical care, personal relationships, and community life were associated with higher levels of resilience and lower levels of trauma and burnout.