The effect of traumatic bereavement on tsunami-exposed survivors

Fourteen months after the 2004 tsunami, mental health outcome was assessed in 187 bereaved relatives, 308 bereaved friends, and in 3,020 nonbereaved Swedish survivors. Of the bereaved relatives, 41% reported posttraumatic stress reactions and 62% reported impaired general mental health. Having been...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of traumatic stress 2009-12, Vol.22 (6), p.497-504
Main Authors: Johannesson, Kerstin Bergh, Lundin, Tom, Hultman, Christina M., Lindam, Anna, Dyster-Aas, Johan, Arnberg, Filip, Michel, Per-Olof
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment Disorders - diagnosis
Adjustment Disorders - epidemiology
Adjustment Disorders - psychology
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Bereavement
Biological and medical sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disasters
Female
Grief
Humans
Life Change Events
Male
Medical sciences
MEDICIN
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
MEDICINE
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Psychiatry
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psykiatri
Psykologi
Risk Factors
SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
SOCIAL SCIENCES
Socialvetenskap
Somatoform Disorders - diagnosis
Somatoform Disorders - epidemiology
Somatoform Disorders - psychology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
Survivors - psychology
Survivors - statistics & numerical data
Sweden - ethnology
Thailand
Travel
Tsunamis
Young Adult
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Summary:Fourteen months after the 2004 tsunami, mental health outcome was assessed in 187 bereaved relatives, 308 bereaved friends, and in 3,020 nonbereaved Swedish survivors. Of the bereaved relatives, 41% reported posttraumatic stress reactions and 62% reported impaired general mental health. Having been caught or chased by the tsunami in combination with bereavement was associated with increased posttraumatic stress reactions. Complicated grief reactions among relatives were almost as frequent as posttraumatic stress reactions. The highest levels of psychological distress were found among those who had lost children. Traumatic bereavement, in combination with exposure to life danger, is probably a risk factor for mental health sequelae after a natural disaster.
ISSN:0894-9867
1573-6598
1573-6598
DOI:10.1002/jts.20467