Citation

Pfefferbaum B, Doughty DE. Psychiatry 2001; 64(4): 296-303.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901, Williams Pavilion, Room 3470, Oklahoma City, OK 73190-3048, USA. betty-pfefferbaum@ouhsc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Guilford Publications)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11822207

Abstract

Research examining alcohol use in disaster victims has yielded conflicting results. This study of 43 acknowledged alcohol users, taken from a nonrandom volunteer sample of Oklahoma City bombing victims receiving support services, revealed relationships between increased alcohol use and a number of variables--injury, retrospectively reported initial reaction to the explosion, grief, and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. The findings suggest that if alcohol use was motivated by an attempt to alleviate symptoms, it was not effective, as evidenced by an association between increased alcohol use and functional impairment. Increased alcohol consumption may present a problem in disaster victims months after exposure to trauma. Therefore, the use of alcohol should be routinely assessed in those who remain symptomatic over time.

Language: en