@article{ref1,
title="Gender differences in risk of posttraumatic stress symptoms after disaster among older people: differential exposure or differential vulnerability?",
journal="Journal of affective disorders",
year="2021",
author="Yazawa, Aki and Aida, Jun and Kondo, Katsunori and Kawachi, Ichiro",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Women have been observed to have a higher risk of developing posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) after disaster compared to men. In a study of survivors of an earthquake, we sought to investigate: whether there was differential exposure to disaster-related trauma by gender; whether women and men have differential vulnerability to trauma; and what factors could explain the gender difference in PTSS. <br><br>METHODS: Data from a cohort of community-dwelling older survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami was used. Data were obtained before (2010) and 2.5-years after the disaster (n=3,334). <br><br>RESULTS: Women suffered 1.6 times higher prevalence of PTSS than men (31.0% vs. 19.4%). Women were more likely to experience loss of relatives (29.2% vs. 23.2%), while men were more likely to report loss of friends (17.1% vs. 14.5%) and separation from work (7.5% vs. 4.6%). We did not find evidence for differential vulnerability to disaster-related trauma. Indeed, the gender gap in PTSS was larger among individuals who did not experience trauma. Women experienced greater deterioration of non-kin instrumental support, which significantly mediated the association between gender and PTSS. LIMITATIONS: We have no information on PTSS prior to the earthquake. Nor do we have clinician diagnoses of PTSD. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Women experienced housing damages and loss of relatives more often than men, which explained ∼21% of the gender gap in PTSS after disaster. Women reported more non-kin support prior to the disaster, but they also experienced greater deterioration of it, which explained ∼21% of the gender gap.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0165-0327",
doi="10.1016/j.jad.2021.10.094",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.10.094"
}