@article{ref1,
title="Impact of childhood exposure to a natural disaster on adult mental health: 20-year longitudinal follow-up study",
journal="British journal of psychiatry",
year="2009",
author="McFarlane, Alexander C. and Van Hooff, Miranda",
volume="195",
number="2",
pages="142-148",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Studies examining the impact of childhood disaster exposure on the development of adult psychopathology report increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychopathology. AIMS: To examine the rates of PTSD and other lifetime DSM-IV disorders in adults exposed to an Australian bushfire disaster as children in 1983 using a matched control sample recruited at the time of the original study. METHOD: A total of 1011 adults recruited from an original sample of 1531 were assessed 20 years following the fires using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-2.1). RESULTS: Results showed only a small direct impact of the fires on adult psychiatric morbidity. A higher proportion of bushfire survivors met criteria for 'any DSM-IV disorder' and ;any anxiety'. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that the long-term impact of a prominent trauma in childhood should be assessed in the context of other lifetime trauma in order to provide a more accurate account of PTSD prevalence rates.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0007-1250",
doi="10.1192/bjp.bp.108.054270",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.108.054270"
}