Maternal Anxiety 16 Months after the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster Area: First Report

Abstract

The Great East Japan Earthquake, a magnitude 9.0 quake that occurred on March 11, 2011, left more than 20,000 killed or missing and resulted in more than 400,000 people being displaced. The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident released large amounts of radioactive material into the air. Among the victims of this combined disaster were many pregnant and parturient women, and this study aimed to determine post-disaster anxiety among this specific population and measures for the future. Participants were 259 women (mean age 33.02 ± 4.79 years) who gave birth around the time of the earthquake in Miyagi Prefecture, one of the disaster areas. Sixteen months after the earthquake, we administered survey questionnaires on anxiety. We transcribed questionnaire responses, coded raw data by context, and categorized these codes by commonality. After extracting subcategories of anxiety-related factors, we categorized them into more abstract concepts. Among the participants, 126 (48.6%) reported having no available professionals with whom they could consult about childrearing. Participants reported anxiety in the following 12 categories: "radiation," "child's physical and mental growth/development," "recurrence of earthquake and tsunami," "financial issues," "childrearing environment," "living environment," "maternal employment," "stigma," "familial issues," "maternal health," "childrearing," and "the future". A beneficial way to reduce maternal anxiety in the 12 areas identified would be to develop support systems that provide continuous support for children's mental health care needs, psychological guidance, community support for maternal empowerment, outreach for individual support, and professional consultation for mothers who have high anxiety about radioactivity.

Report on Maternal Anxiety 16 Months After the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster: Anxiety Over Radioactivity

“…Among the 886 women who initially agreed to participate, the final sample comprised 259 women who returned completed questionnaires. We administered the survey in July 2012, and the details of this survey have been previously described elsewhere ( Yoshii et al, 2014 ).…”

“…We explained that their participation would be kept confidential. Before starting the investigation, we obtained signed informed consent forms from all participants (see Yoshii et al, 2014 for a detailed description of this process).…”

“…The survey questionnaire included open-ended questions asking participants to describe their anxieties. After collecting basic demographic information, the questionnaire began with the general question, “What is causing you anxiety?” Participants could freely express their responses to this question, as has previously been described in detail ( Yoshii et al, 2014 ).…”

“…The first step of the data analysis involved repeated reading of the questionnaire responses to facilitate familiarity with the data, allowing for the beginnings of an interpretative process. To enhance the credibility of the analytical process, the co-authors analyzed the data, verified the coding, and organized the data into themes, as has been previously described ( Yoshii et al, 2014 ). We typed the questionnaire responses, coded anxiety-related raw data by context, and then categorized these codes into subcategory groups.…”

“…We then extracted subcategories of these anxiety-related factors and further categorized them into category groups. We classified these subcategories into 12 higher-level categories: radiation, child’s physical and mental growth/development, recurrence of earthquakes and tsunamis, financial issues, childrearing environment, living environment, maternal employment, stigma, familial issues, maternal health, childrearing, and the future ( Yoshii et al, 2014 ). This study reports on the categories, subcategories, and coding within the radiation category group.…”