TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Psychological functioning 1 year after a brief intervention using micronutrients to treat stress and anxiety related to the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes: A naturalistic follow-up
JO  - Human psychopharmacology
A1  - Rucklidge, Julia J.
A1  - Blampied, Neville
A1  - Gorman, Brigette
A1  - Gordon, Heather A.
A1  - Sole, Ellen
SP  - 230
EP  - 243
VL  - 29
IS  - 3
N2  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether micronutrients given acutely following the Christchurch earthquakes continued to confer benefit 1 year following the treatment. METHODS: Sixty-four adults from the original 91 participants experiencing heightened anxiety or stress 2-3 months following the 22nd February 2011 earthquake and who had been randomized to receive three different doses of micronutrients completed on-line questionnaires assessing mood, anxiety, stress, and symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder 1 year after completing the initial study. Twenty-one out of 29 nonrandomized controls who did not receive the treatment also completed the questionnaires. RESULTS: Both the treated and control groups experienced significant improvement in psychological functioning compared with end-of-trial. However, treated participants had better long-term outcomes on most measures compared with controls (ES = 0.69-1.31). Those who stayed on micronutrients through to follow-up or stopped all treatment reported better psychological functioning than those who switched to other treatments including medications. About 10% of the sample continued to have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Disaster survivors improve psychologically over time regardless of receiving intervention; however, those taking micronutrients during the acute phase following a disaster show better outcomes, identifying micronutrients as a viable treatment for acute stress following a natural disaster with maintenance of benefits 1 year later. ACTRN 12611000460909 Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0885-6222
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hup.2392
ID  - ref1
ER  -