@article{ref1,
title="Characteristics of Wenchuan earthquake victims who remained in a government-supported transitional community",
journal="Asia-Pacific psychiatry",
year="2013",
author="Ma, Ning and Ma, Hong and He, Hua and Yu, Xin and Caine, Eric D.",
volume="5",
number="2",
pages="E73-80",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: The Chinese government and provincial authorities built a large number of temporary communities to shelter survivors after the May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Most residents left within a few months but others remained. This study describes the characteristics and psychological status of those victims who remained in a government-supported transitional community 12 months post-earthquake compared to residents who departed prior to that time. METHODS: Two groups of survivors of Wenchuan earthquake who resided in a transitional community were enrolled: 86 in December 2008 and 151 in February 2009. We assessed their mental distress, symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide risk. Forty-three and 46 members of the two groups, respectively, had departed the transitional community at 1 year post-earthquake. RESULTS: In both groups, most of the survivors who remained in the community 1 year post-earthquake were older, female, with a lower education level and more serious personal losses. They had scored higher on self-report measures reflecting distressing symptoms and impairment as compared with their departed neighbors, and had a higher prevalence of depression and suicide risk at the time of enrollment. DISCUSSION: Survivors who come to live in a transitional community following a disaster are heterogeneous. Remaining survivors were apparently more vulnerable and had a lower capacity to seek work and return to a more self-sustaining life outside the transitional community. Such vulnerable survivors require distinctive strategies for making a successful return to independent living.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1758-5864",
doi="10.1111/appy.12074",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/appy.12074"
}