The Long‐term Psychological Effects of a Disaster Experienced in Adolescence: I: The Incidence and Course of PTSD

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that children and adolescents exposed to traumatic experience in a disaster can suffer from high levels of post-traumatic stress. The present paper is the first a series reporting on the long-term follow-up of a group of young adults who as teenagers had survived a shipping disaster-the sinking of the "Jupiter" in Greek waters-between 5 and 8 years previously. The general methodology of the follow-up study as a whole is described, and the incidence and long-term course of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is the first study of its kind on a relatively large, representative sample of survivors, using a standardised diagnostic interview, and comparing survivors with a community control group. Survivors of the Jupiter disaster (N = 217), and 87 young people as controls, were interviewed using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). Of the 217 survivors, 111 (51.7%) had developed PTSD at some time during the follow-up period, compared with an incidence in the control group of 3.4 % (N = 87). In the large majority of cases of PTSD in the survivors for whom time of onset was recorded, 90 % (N = 110), onset was not delayed, being within 6 months of the disaster. About a third of those survivors who developed PTSD (30%, N = 111) recovered within a year of onset, through another third (34 %, N = 111) were still suffering from the disorder at the time of follow-up, between 5 and 8 years after the disaster. Issues relating to the generalisability of these findings are discussed.

Acute stress disorder and the transition to posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: Prevalence, course, prognosis, diagnostic suitability, and risk markers

“…PTSD may be chronic in youth, potentially lasting years (Morgan, Scourfield, Williams, Jasper, & Lewis, 2003; Yule et al., 2000). Given this potential for profound disruption of a young person's development, researchers have attempted to understand the etiology and evolution of chronic PTSD (Winston, Kassam‐Adams, & Garcia‐Espana, 2003), with a view to early intervention (Marsac, Donlon, & Berkowitz, 2014).…”

Psychotic symptoms in young adults exposed to childhood trauma—A 20year follow-up study

“…Houston et al (2008) found an interaction between cannabis use, childhood sexual abuse, and adult non-affective psychosis. Several previous studies have followed the childhood survivors of natural disasters into adulthood (Green et al, 1994;Yule et al, 2000;Bolton et al, 2000;Morgan et al, 2003), but none of these studies have investigated the prevalence of SPE in the survivors when they reach adulthood. Further, none have included control subjects recruited during childhood.…”

Exposure and Peritraumatic Response as Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress in Children Following the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing

“…Rates of PTSD in populations exposed to severe trauma are even higher. [3][4][5][6][7][8] PTSD often has a chronic course, and symptoms may be disabling. 1 Exposure to a traumatic stressor is essential to the diagnosis of PTSD.…”