Post traumatic stress disorder and coping in a sample of adult survivors of the Italian earthquake.

The aim was to investigate the prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in people who had left their damaged homes and were still living in temporary housing more than a year after the April 2009 L'Aquila (Italy) earthquake. In addition, we evaluated the differences in coping strategies implemented by persons who had and who did not have PTSD. A cross-sectional prevalence study was carried out on a sample of 281 people aged >18 years and living in temporary housing after the earthquake. The questionnaires used include the Davidson Trauma Scale and the Brief Cope. The prevalence of PTSD was 43%. Women and the non-employed were more vulnerable to PTSD, while, age and level of education were not associated with PTSD. Those with PTSD symptoms often employed maladaptive coping strategies for dealing with earthquake and had the highest scores in the domains of denial, venting, behavioral disengagement, self-blame. By contrast, those without PTSD generally had more adaptive coping mechanisms. Adults who were living in temporary housing after the earthquake experienced high rates of PTSD. The difference in coping mechanisms between those who have PTSD and those who do not also suggests that they influence the likeliness of developing PTSD.

Quality of life, psychological wellbeing and resilience: a survey on the Italian population living in a new lodging after the earthquake of April 2009.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to estimate the quality of life and the psychological wellbeing as a result of the earthquake which occurred the 6th of April 2009 and that struck the population of the city of L'Aquila. METHODS: A random sample of 281 subjects, from the population that had the possibility of living in a temporary lodging provided by the State, were interviewed after the earthquake, during the period between July and October 2010. Two self-administered questionnaires were used: the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) and the Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS II). RESULTS: The women's health status is worse than the men's, this is true both on a general level (79,24 vs 70,55), and on different estimated dimensions. Health status is significantly worse in older age groups (F2;245=4,34, p=0,0140): the elderly appear to be more depressed (F2;245=6,52, p=0,0017) and to have less self-control (F2;245=3,06, p=0,0487) than the younger. CONCLUSIONS: Generally women tend to experience greater emotional involvement in social and interpersonal relationships. Although many months have passed since the catastrophic event, feelings of disease and a sense of impotence (about life) are still persistent in people, even though they generally are hopeful about the future.

Psychopathological chronic sequelae of the 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy.

BACKGROUND: To date, there are no data available among the general adult population on the long-term psychological sequelae of the earthquake that occurred in the town of L'Aquila, Italy in 2009. We investigated the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression (MD) and identified risk factors for these disorders among adult survivors more than one year after the earthquake. METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted among a random sample of 957 resident adults. The interviews were performed using a questionnaire on exposure to the earthquake, the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for PTSD, and the Patient Health Questionnaire 8 for MD. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess potential risk factors. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of PTSD and MD were 4.1% (95% CI=3.0-5.5) and 5.8% (95% CI=4.5-7.5), respectively. The risk factors for PTSD were economic difficulties not necessarily related to the earthquake, chronic disease, death of a relative or friend, and serious economic difficulties as consequence of the earthquake, whereas those for MD were female gender, economic difficulties not necessarily related to the earthquake, not having a permanent job and living in L'Aquila. LIMITATIONS: The major limitations were the cross sectional design and the uncertain accuracy of the diagnoses compared with clinical diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological symptoms are frequent even 14-19 months after the L'Aquila earthquake. The mental health care providers in the area of L'Aquila should be aware of the possibility of PTSD or MD among their users.