Resilience in the Face of Disaster: Prevalence and Longitudinal Course of Mental Disorders following Hurricane Ike

Objectives Natural disasters may increase risk for a broad range of psychiatric disorders, both in the short- and in the medium-term. We sought to determine the prevalence and longitudinal course of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder (PD), depression, and suicidality in the first 18 months after Hurricane Ike. Methods Six hundred fifty-eight adults representative of Galveston and Chambers Counties, Texas participated in a random, population-based survey. The initial assessment was conducted 2 to 5 months after Hurricane Ike struck Galveston Bay on September 13, 2008. Follow-up assessments were conducted at 5 to 9 and 14 to 18 months after Hurricane Ike. Results Past-month prevalence of any mental disorder (20.6% to 10.9%) and hurricane-related PTSD (6.9% to 2.5%) decreased over time. Past-month prevalence of PTSD related to a non-disaster traumatic event (5.8% to 7.1%), GAD (3.1% to 1.8%), PD (0.8% to 0.7%), depression (5.0% to 5.6%), and suicidality (2.6% to 4.2%) remained relatively stable over time. Conclusions PTSD, both due to the hurricane and due to other traumatic events, was the most prevalent psychiatric disorder 2 to 5 months after Hurricane Ike. Prevalence of psychiatric disorders declined rapidly over time, suggesting that the vast majority of individuals exposed to this natural disaster ‘bounced back’ and were resilient to long-term mental health consequences of this large-scale traumatic event.

[1]  E. Walker,et al.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 2013 .

[2]  S. Galea,et al.  Differences in the determinants of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression after a mass traumatic event , 2011, Depression and anxiety.

[3]  S. Galea,et al.  A prospective population based study of changes in alcohol use and binge drinking after a mass traumatic event. , 2011, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[4]  C. Kılıç,et al.  Effect of Relocation and Parental Psychopathology on Earthquake Survivor-Children's Mental Health , 2011, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[5]  S. Galea,et al.  Long-term posttraumatic stress symptoms among 3,271 civilian survivors of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. , 2011, American journal of epidemiology.

[6]  Julie A. Schumacher,et al.  Intimate Partner Violence and Hurricane Katrina: Predictors and Associated Mental Health Outcomes , 2010, Violence and Victims.

[7]  S. Galea,et al.  Prevalence and consequences of disaster-related illness and injury from Hurricane Ike. , 2010, Rehabilitation psychology.

[8]  S. Galea,et al.  Epigenetic and immune function profiles associated with posttraumatic stress disorder , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[9]  J. Boscarino,et al.  PTSD onset and course following the World Trade Center disaster: findings and implications for future research , 2009, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

[10]  S. Galea,et al.  Posttyphoon prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder in a Vietnamese sample. , 2009, Journal of traumatic stress.

[11]  G. Bonanno,et al.  Psychological resilience and dysfunction among hospitalized survivors of the SARS epidemic in Hong Kong: a latent class approach. , 2008, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[12]  S. Kim,et al.  Medium-term post-Katrina health sequelae among New Orleans residents: predictors of poor mental and physical health. , 2008, Journal of clinical nursing.

[13]  S. Galea,et al.  Alcohol use trajectories among adults in an urban area after a disaster: evidence from a population-based cohort study. , 2008, Addiction.

[14]  G. Bonanno.  Loss, trauma, and human resilience: have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? , 2008, The American psychologist.

[15]  R. Kessler,et al.  Trends in mental illness and suicidality after Hurricane Katrina , 2008, Molecular Psychiatry.

[16]  Lynda A. King,et al.  Exposure to hurricane-related stressors and mental illness after Hurricane Katrina. , 2007, Archives of general psychiatry.

[17]  S Galea,et al.  Post-traumatic stress disorder following disasters: a systematic review , 2007, Psychological Medicine.

[18]  R. Carleton,et al.  Acute posttraumatic stress symptoms and depression after exposure to the 2005 Saskatchewan Centennial Air Show disaster: prevalence and predictors. , 2007, American Journal of Disaster Medicine.

[19]  Elizabeth L. Ogburn,et al.  Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in the United States: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. , 2007, Archives of general psychiatry.

[20]  S. Galea,et al.  Psychological sequelae resulting from the 2004 Florida hurricanes: implications for postdisaster intervention. , 2007, American journal of public health.

[21]  P. Muntner,et al.  Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in a New Orleans Workforce Following Hurricane Katrina , 2007, Journal of Urban Health.

[22]  S. Galea,et al.  Risk and protective factors for psychopathology among older versus younger adults after the 2004 Florida hurricanes. , 2006, The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

[23]  S. Galea,et al.  Risk Factors for Depression After a Disaster , 2006, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[24]  C. Kılıç,et al.  Prevalence of psychiatric disorders three years after the 1999 earthquake in Turkey: Marmara Earthquake Survey (MES) , 2006, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

[25]  B. Löwe,et al.  A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. , 2006, Archives of internal medicine.

[26]  S. Galea,et al.  Alcohol use in New York after the terrorist attacks: a study of the effects of psychological trauma on drinking behavior. , 2006, Addictive behaviors.

[27]  S. Galea,et al.  The epidemiology of post-traumatic stress disorder after disasters. , 2005, Epidemiologic reviews.

[28]  Olga V. Demler,et al.  Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. , 2005, Archives of general psychiatry.

[29]  G. Bonanno,et al.  Resilience in the Face of Potential Trauma , 2005 .

[30]  B. Grant,et al.  The 12-Month Prevalence and Trends in DSM–IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence , 2004, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[31]  Kenneth J. Ruggiero,et al.  Psychometric Properties of the PTSD Checklist—Civilian Version , 2003, Journal of traumatic stress.

[32]  R. Spitzer,et al.  The PHQ-9: A new depression diagnostic and severity measure , 2002 .

[33]  F. Norris,et al.  60,000 Disaster Victims Speak: Part II. Summary and Implications of the Disaster Mental Health Research , 2002, Psychiatry.

[34]  F. Norris,et al.  60,000 Disaster Victims Speak: Part I. An Empirical Review of the Empirical Literature, 1981—2001 , 2002, Psychiatry.

[35]  M. Gatz,et al.  Age and emotional response to the Northridge earthquake: a longitudinal analysis. , 2000, Psychology and aging.

[36]  J Briere,et al.  Prevalence, Characteristics, and Long-Term Sequelae of Natural Disaster Exposure in the General Population , 2000, Journal of traumatic stress.

[37]  R. Spitzer,et al.  Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ primary care study. Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders. Patient Health Questionnaire. , 1999, JAMA.

[38]  T. W. Miller,et al.  Posttraumatic stress disorder after treatment for breast cancer: prevalence of diagnosis and use of the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) as a screening instrument. , 1998, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[39]  R. Kessler,et al.  Prevalence, correlates, and course of minor depression and major depression in the National Comorbidity Survey. , 1997, Journal of affective disorders.

[40]  J. Kenardy,et al.  A synthesis of the findings from the Quake Impact Study: a two-year investigation of the psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake , 1997, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

[41]  N. Schneiderman,et al.  Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Intrusive Thoughts, Loss, and Immune Function after Hurricane Andrew , 1997, Psychosomatic medicine.

[42]  E. Blanchard,et al.  Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL). , 1996, Behaviour research and therapy.

[43]  R. Kessler,et al.  Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. , 1995, Archives of general psychiatry.

[44]  F. Norris,et al.  Age differences in the psychological consequences of Hurricane Hugo. , 1993, Psychology and aging.

[45]  P. Steinglass,et al.  Natural Disasters and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Short-Term versus Long-Term Recovery in Two Disaster-Affected Communities1 , 1990 .

[46]  F H Norris,et al.  Psychological symptoms in older adults following natural disaster: nature, timing, duration, and course. , 1989, Journal of gerontology.

[47]  S. Murrell,et al.  Prior experience as a moderator of disaster impact on anxiety symptoms in older adults , 1988, American journal of community psychology.

[48]  W. Vollmer,et al.  Psychiatric reactions to disaster: the Mount St. Helens experience. , 1986, The American journal of psychiatry.

[49]  K. Chan,et al.  Female Victimization and Intimate Partner Violence After the May 12, 2008, Sichuan Earthquake , 2011, Violence and Victims.

[50]  Winfried Rief,et al.  Validity of the Brief Patient Health Questionnaire Mood Scale (PHQ-9) in the general population. , 2006, General hospital psychiatry.

[51]  Trevillore E. Raghunathan,et al.  IVEware: Imputation and Variance Estimation Software User Guide , 2002 .

[52]  R. Spitzer,et al.  The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. , 2001, Journal of general internal medicine.

[53]  John Van Hoewyk,et al.  A multivariate technique for multiply imputing missing values using a sequence of regression models , 2001 .

[54]  Taeuber Cm.  The American community survey. , 2000 .

[55]  D. Sheehan,et al.  The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.): the development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10. , 1998, The Journal of clinical psychiatry.

[56]  T. Hergueta,et al.  The mini international neuropsychiatric interview , 1998, European Psychiatry.

[57]  G. Dunbar,et al.  The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). A short diagnostic structured interview: reliability and validity according to the CIDI , 1997, European Psychiatry.

[58]  G. Dunbar,et al.  The validity of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) according to the SCID-P and its reliability , 1997, European Psychiatry.

[59]  Claire Hoertz Badaracco,et al.  Public Opinion Research , 1997 .

[60]  B. Stamm.  Measurement of stress, trauma, and adaptation , 1996 .

[61]  Shirley A. Star,et al.  AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH , 1980 .