Life Events, Coping, and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms among Chinese Adolescents Exposed to 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, China

Abstract

PurposeTo examine the relationship between negative life events, coping styles, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adolescent survivors exposed to 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, China.MethodsA survey was conducted in a sample of 2250 adolescent students from two schools in Dujiangyan District, a seriously damaged area, 20 kilometers away from the epicenter, 6 months after the earthquake. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire including demographics, negative life events, coping styles, and PTSD symptoms.ResultsAcademic pressure was the strongest predictor of adolescents' PTSD symptoms among all negative life events. Main effects of negative life events, positive coping and negative coping on PTSD symptoms were significant in both younger adolescents and older adolescents, while the moderator effects of two coping styles were found significant only within older adolescents.ConclusionsCoping may play a role to moderate the relationship between post-earthquake negative life events and PTSD symptom, but the function seems to depend on the age of participants. Psychosocial coping skills training may be important in the prevention and intervention of mental health problems in adolescent survivors of traumatic earthquake.

Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms among child survivors 1 year following the Wenchuan earthquake in China

“…These inconsistent results across studies (even of the same earthquake) may be due to one or more of the following factors: time-points of measurement following the earthquake, measures used to assess psychopathology, and possible differential impact of earthquakes in different countries [12,13]. Consistent with previous studies [8,12,17], our results indicated that female child survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake exhibited more PTSD and depressive symptoms than male child survivors. One possible explanation of this finding is the gender difference in neuroendocrine response, which can be induced by gender-specific cognitive appraisal and coping processes in the face of traumatic events [47].…”

“…In the previous review, the prevalence rates ranged from 4.5 to 95 % for PTSD and from 13.6 to 76 % for depression in child and adolescent survivors of earthquakes [13]. Even among the studies on mental health of child survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake, the prevalence rates ranged from 1.6 to 82.6 % for PTSD [4, 8-11, 19, 40, 46] and from 14.5 to 40.8 % for depression [4,[8][9][10][11][12]. These inconsistent results across studies (even of the same earthquake) may be due to one or more of the following factors: time-points of measurement following the earthquake, measures used to assess psychopathology, and possible differential impact of earthquakes in different countries [12,13].…”

“…Even among the studies on mental health of child survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake, the prevalence rates ranged from 1.6 to 82.6 % for PTSD [4, 8-11, 19, 40, 46] and from 14.5 to 40.8 % for depression [4,[8][9][10][11][12]. These inconsistent results across studies (even of the same earthquake) may be due to one or more of the following factors: time-points of measurement following the earthquake, measures used to assess psychopathology, and possible differential impact of earthquakes in different countries [12,13]. Consistent with previous studies [8,12,17], our results indicated that female child survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake exhibited more PTSD and depressive symptoms than male child survivors.…”

“…In addition to PTSD symptoms, child survivors of traumatic events usually experience comorbid depression. Previous studies reported that the prevalence rates of depression ranged from 14.5 to 40.8 % among child survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake [4,[8][9][10][11][12]. In sum, there were great variations in the prevalence rates of earthquake-related PTSD and depression across studies.…”

“…In sum, there were great variations in the prevalence rates of earthquake-related PTSD and depression across studies. This variability could be attributed to the differential impact of earthquakes in different countries, the timing of psychiatric assessment, and the diversity of research methodologies employed [12,13].…”