Citation

Prince-Embury S, Rooney JF. J. Trauma. Stress 1995; 8(1): 47-59.

Affiliation

Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune 07711.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7712058

Abstract

Psychological adaptation is examined in a sample of residents who remained in the vicinity of Three Mile Island following the restart of the nuclear generating facility which had been shut down since the 1979 accident. Findings indicate a lowering of psychological symptoms between 1985 and 1989 in spite of increased lack of control, less faith in experts and increased fear of developing cancer. The suggestion is made that reduced stress might have been related to a process of adaptation whereby a cognition of emergency preparedness was integrated by some of these residents as a modulating cognitive element. Findings also indicate that "loss of faith in experts" is a persistently salient cognition consistent with the "shattered assumptions" theory of victimization.

Language: en