Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression among bereaved and non-bereaved survivors following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

Abstract

Many studies have suggested that unexpected death of a loved one is an important risk factor of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among disaster survivors, but few have examined the magnitude of psychiatric morbidities among bereaved survivors. This study examined the prevalence rates of clinically significant PTSD and depressive symptoms and their associated risk factors among Chinese adult survivors following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Two hundred and fifty-one bereaved adults were compared with 1474 non-bereaved adult survivors. The estimated rates of PTSD and depressive symptoms were 65.6% and 64.8% for those who lost first-degree family members, 34.1% and 45.5% for those who lost second-degree relatives, and 27.1% and 37.5% for non-bereaved survivors respectively. Loss of a child was a significant predictor of psychopathological symptoms. The results suggested that effective and sustainable mental health services were required, especially for bereaved single-child parents.

Effect of having a subsequent child on the mental health of women who lost a child in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake: a cross-sectional study

“…In fact, a previous study has shown that seven to eight months after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, 80% of bereaved parents had clinically significant symptoms of PTSD and 81.8% had symptoms of depression. 3 These data are consistent with our findings.…”

“…2 Parents who have lost young or adolescent children are at higher risk for mental disorders than those who have lost adult children. 3,4 Furthermore, bereaved mothers appear to be more vulnerable to psychological illness than bereaved fathers. 5 Several factors influencing emotional recovery from the loss of a child after a disaster have been identified.…”

The prevalence and risk factors for psychological distress in older men and women affected by the Wenchuan, China earthquake

“…Jia et al observed that loss of family members was significantly related to psychiatric disorder among older survivors after the Wenchuan earthquake [10]. Chan et al found that bereaved individuals reported a significantly higher prevalence of depression and PTSD than non-bereaved individuals 2 years after the 2004 tsunami [28]. Bereavement as a mass stressor can disrupt family life and family functioning.…”

Prevalence and risk factors of complicated grief among Sichuan earthquake survivors

“…How people's well-being is affected by such traumatic loss has attracted burgeoning attention of researchers over recent years (Katz et al, 2002). There has been increasing effort devoted to the psychological sequelae among bereaved disaster survivors and findings generally suggest that bereaved survivors are vulnerable to severe mental health problems (Chan et al, 2012;Kuo et al, 2003;Pfefferbaum et al, 2001). However, grief reactions and bereavement are usually included as stressors in those studies, rather than as dependent variables.…”