Citation

North CS, Oliver J, Pandya A. Am. J. Public Health 2012; 102(10): e40-8.

Affiliation

Carol S. North is with the Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System and the Departments of Psychiatry and Surgery, Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. Julianne Oliver is with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas, Dallas. At the time of the study, Anand Pandya was with the Department of Psychiatry, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, and the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2012.300689

PMID

22897543

Abstract

Objectives. Using a comprehensive disaster model, we examined predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combined data from 10 different disasters. Methods. The combined sample included data from 811 directly exposed survivors of 10 disasters between 1987 and 1995. We used consistent methods across all 10 disaster samples, including full diagnostic assessment. Results. In multivariate analyses, predictors of PTSD were female gender, younger age, Hispanic ethnicity, less education, ever-married status, predisaster psychopathology, disaster injury, and witnessing injury or death; exposure through death or injury to friends or family members and witnessing the disaster aftermath did not confer additional PTSD risk. Intentionally caused disasters associated with PTSD in bivariate analysis did not independently predict PTSD in multivariate analysis. Avoidance and numbing symptoms represented a PTSD marker. Conclusions. Despite confirming some previous research findings, we found no associations between PTSD and disaster typology. Prospective research is needed to determine whether early avoidance and numbing symptoms identify individuals likely to develop PTSD later. Our findings may help identify at-risk populations for treatment research. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print August 16, 2012: e1-e9. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300689).

Language: en