The longitudinal mental health impact of Fukushima nuclear disaster exposures and public criticism among power plant workers: the Fukushima NEWS Project study

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

The Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Power Plant workers experienced multiple stressors as both victims and onsite workers after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent nuclear accidents. Previous studies found that disaster-related exposures, including discrimination/slurs, were associated with their mental health. Their long-term impact has yet to be investigated.

Method

A total of 968 plant workers (Daiichi, n = 571; Daini, n = 397) completed self-written questionnaires 2–3 months (time 1) and 14–15 months (time 2) after the disaster (response rate 55.0%). Sociodemographics, disaster-related experiences, and peritraumatic distress were assessed at time 1. At time 1 and time 2, general psychological distress (GPD) and post-traumatic stress response (PTSR) were measured, respectively, using the K6 scale and Impact of Event Scale Revised. We examined multivariate covariates of time 2 GPD and PTSR, adjusting for autocorrelations in the hierarchical multiple regression analyses.

Results

Higher GPD at time 2 was predicted by higher GPD at time 1 ( β = 0.491, p < 0.001) and discrimination/slurs experiences at time 1 ( β = 0.065, p = 0.025, adjusted R ² = 0.24). Higher PTSR at time 2 was predicted with higher PTSR at time 1 ( β = 0.548, p < 0.001), higher age ( β = 0.085, p = 0.005), and discrimination/slurs experiences at time 1 ( β = 0.079, p = 0.003, adjusted R ² = 0.36).

Conclusions

Higher GPD at time 2 was predicted by higher GPD and discrimination/slurs experience at time 1. Higher PTSR at time 2 was predicted by higher PTSR, higher age, and discrimination/slurs experience at time 1.

Related collections

Most cited references 13

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Reliability and validity of the Japanese-language version of the impact of event scale-revised (IES-R-J): four studies of different traumatic events.

Nozomu Asukai, Hiroshi Kato, Noriyuki Kawamura … (2002)

The authors developed the Japanese-language version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-J) and investigated its reliability and validity in four different groups: workers with lifetime mixed traumatic events, survivors of an arsenic poisoning case, survivors of the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, and survivors of the Tokyo Metro sarin attack. Evidence includes retest reliability and internal consistency of the IES-R-J. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and partial PTSD cases indicated significantly higher scores than non-PTSD cases. The IES-R-J can be a useful self-rating diagnostic instrument particularly for survivors with PTSD symptoms as a clinical concern (PTSD + partial PTSD) by using a 24/25 cutoff in total score. In analysis of scale structure, the majority of intrusion and hyperarousal items were subsumed under the same cluster, whereas avoidance items made up a separate cluster. Female patients indicated higher scores than male patients. A negative weak correlation between age and the score was found only among female earthquake survivors. The IES-R-J can be used as a validated instrument in future international comparative research.

0 comments Cited 209 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Assessment of prevalence and determinants of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms in adults survivors of earthquake in Haiti after 30 months.

Daniel Derivois, Jude Mary Cénat (2014)

On January 12, 2010, a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Republic of Haiti and destroyed Port-au-Prince, the capital and others cities across the country. While some studies have examined the long-term traumatic effects of the seismic event on children and adolescents victims, so far no study has examined the consequences on adults generally. As such, this study aims to investigate the traumatic consequences of the earthquake among adults related to degree of exposure, peritraumatic distress, depressive symptoms and sociodemographic factors two and a half years after. In addition, predictive factors of PTSD and depressive symptoms were also identified.

0 comments Cited 39 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Peritraumatic Distress, Watching Television, and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms among Rescue Workers after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Daisuke Nishi, Yuichi Koido, Naoki Nakaya … (2012)

Background The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2001 left around 20,000 dead or missing. Previous studies showed that rescue workers, as well as survivors, of disasters are at high risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study examined the predictive usefulness of the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI) among rescue workers of Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) deployed during the acute disaster phase of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Methodology/Principal Findings In this prospective observational study, the DMAT members recruited were assessed 1 month after the earthquake on the PDI and 4 months after the earthquake on the Impact of Event Scale-Revised to determine PTSD symptoms. The predictive value of the PDI at initial assessment for PTSD symptoms at the follow-up assessment was examined by univariate and multiple linear regression analysis. Of the 254 rescue workers who participated in the initial assessment, 173 completed the follow-up assessment. Univariate regression analysis revealed that PDI total score and most individual item scores predicted PTSD symptoms. In particular, high predictive values were seen for peritraumatic emotional distress such as losing control of emotions and being ashamed of emotional reactions. In multiple linear regression analysis, PDI total score was an independent predictor for PTSD symptoms after adjusting for covariates. As for covariates specifically, watching earthquake television news reports for more than 4 hours per day predicted PTSD symptoms. Conclusions/Significance The PDI predicted PTSD symptoms in rescue workers after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Peritraumatic emotional distress appears to be an important factor to screen for individuals at risk for developing PTSD among medical rescue workers. In addition, watching television for extended period of time might require attention at a time of crisis.

0 comments Cited 32 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Psychol Med

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Psychol Med

Journal ID (publisher-id): PSM

Title: Psychological Medicine

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, UK )

ISSN (Print): 0033-2917

ISSN (Electronic): 1469-8978

Publication date (Print): November 2016

Publication date (Electronic): 18 August 2016

Volume: 46

Issue: 15

Pages: 3117-3125

Affiliations

[1 ]Health and Global Policy Institute , Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

[2 ]Department of Psychiatry, National Defense Medical College , Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan

[3 ]Department of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Yokohama City University , Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan

[4 ]Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Juntendo University , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

[5 ]Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Stony Brook University School of Medicine , Stony Brook, NY, USA

[6 ]Department of Disaster Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba , Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

[7 ]Department of Health Care Research, Center for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Center , Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

[8 ]Department of Mental Health Policy and Evaluation, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry , Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan

[9 ]Division of Behavioral Science, National Defense Medical College Research Institute, National Defense Medical College , Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan

[10 ]Nursing Science of Community Health Care System, Department of Nursing, Tohoku University School of Health Sciences , Sendai, Japan

[11 ]Rokubancho Mental Clinic, Japan Depression Center , Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Author notes

[* ]Address for correspondence: J. Shigemura, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, National Defense Medical College , 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-8513, Japan. (Email: shige@ 123456ndmc.ac.jp ) [J.S.] (Email: tt9178tt9178@ 123456gmail.com ) [T.T.]

[†]

Members of the Fukushima NEWS Project Collaborators are given in the Appendix.

Article

Publisher Item ID: S003329171600194X Publisher ID: 00194

DOI: 10.1017/S003329171600194X

PMC ID: 5108304

PubMed ID: 27534897

SO-VID: bd96d209-927b-4eb7-b0ec-95b421144037

License:

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 08 December 2015

Date revision received : 12 July 2016

Date accepted : 15 July 2016

Page count

Figures: 1, Tables: 4, References: 24, Pages: 9

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 5

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 224

See all reference authors

The longitudinal mental health impact of Fukushima nuclear disaster exposures and public criticism among power plant workers: the Fukushima NEWS Project study

Read this article at

Abstract

Background

Method

Results

Conclusions

Related collections

New Psychiatry

Most cited references 13

Reliability and validity of the Japanese-language version of the impact of event scale-revised (IES-R-J): four studies of different traumatic events.

Assessment of prevalence and determinants of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms in adults survivors of earthquake in Haiti after 30 months.

Peritraumatic Distress, Watching Television, and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms among Rescue Workers after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Page count

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 556

Cited by 5

Most referenced authors 224