After the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, residents of the area affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident were forced to seek long-term shelter. International attention to mental health needs has increased along with reconstruction of life throughout the region. Mental health, suicidal thoughts and related factors in the 18 months after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster were examined in a community-based, cross-sectional study of 1,595 adults living in Fukushima. To determine mental status, we used the Japanese version of K6, which was developed to screen mood and anxiety disorders. Using a cut-off of 13 points, the frequency of poor mental health was 12.1% among all subjects. Thus, the frequencies of mental health problems and suicidal thoughts were high among residents forced to live in long-term shelters following a disaster. To improve the mental well-being of community-dwelling adults living for extended periods in shelters following a disaster, there is a need to focus on issues of unemployment, stress on the health of shelter dwellers and their families, stress on human relationships, social support, social capital, and suicidal thoughts.
While motivation and hope of livelihood reconstruction have gradually risen in the three years since the disaster, anxieties about an uncertain future, loss of purpose in life, and disruption of social networks continue adversely to affect the mental health of survivors.
Background: People with severe mental illness can now function better in their communities because of improved local mental health services. Nevertheless, a convenient short scale for evaluating their functioning would be useful. Purpose: We simplified the 27-item version of an instrument measuring self-efficacy for social participation in mentally ill individuals (SESP27), creating an abridged 10-item version (SESP10). The validity and reliability of the SESP10 were then assessed. Methods: We administered the SESP27, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, Norbeck's Social Support Scale, the Sense of Coherence Scale (13-item), and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire to 145 community-dwelling mentally ill people using a psychiatric service. We also assessed how satisfied subjects were with their lives and whether they had any life goals. To verify the reliability of the SESP10, the SESP27 was distributed to the same participants about 1 month after the first survey. By referring to the factor structure of the SESP27, 10 items that were found to have high loadings were selected and used to create the SESP10. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the SESP10 maintained the four-factor structure of the SESP27, with sufficient content validity; these factors were: "trust in social self" (2 items), "self-management" (3 items), "social adaptability" (2 items), and "mutual support" (3 items). Furthermore, the SESP10 had excellent internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and criterion validity. Conclusion: The validity and reliability of the SESP10 were confirmed. Because of its convenience, it can be widely applied to people with severe mental illness.
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