Citation

Yazawa A, Aida J, Kondo K, Kawachi I. J. Affect. Disord. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2021.10.094

PMID

34715197

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.

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).

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.

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.

Language: en

Keywords

social support; disaster; gender disparity; gerontology; Posttraumatic stress disorders