Citation

Ma X, Liu X, Hu X, Qiu C, Wang Y, Huang Y, Wang Q, Zhang W, Li T. Psychiatry Res. 2011; 189(3): 385-391.

Affiliation

The Psychiatric Laboratory & the Department of Psychiatry, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2010.12.016

PMID

21295350

Abstract

In Chinese adolescents, we used the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) as the screening tool, and Post-traumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI) and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were used to assess the cognitions and their social supports, to evaluate the prevalence and identify predicting variables of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the Wenchuan earthquake in China, which occurred on 12 May 2008. Subjects with a CRIES score greater than 30 were interviewed for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV)-defined PTSD diagnosis by a trained psychiatrist with the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children Lifetime version (Kiddie-SADS-L). We found the overall prevalence of PTSD was 2.5% in 3208 adolescents from the surrounding areas of the epicentre 6months after the earthquake. Females, those being buried/injured during the earthquake, whose parents severely injured, having classmate(s) who died, whose house was destroyed and witnessed someone buried/wounded/dying during the earthquake are risk factors of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Individuals with better social support have significantly lower scores of the CRIES. There were significant differences in cognitive style between individuals who are at low risk of PTSD (CRIES<30) and those at high risk of PTSD (CRIES≥30). Post-traumatic cognition is an important factor that is associated with PTSD reactions in children. Social support can lessen the impact of a natural disaster by affecting post-traumatic cognition.

Language: en