Natural Course of Posttraumatic Symptoms in Late-Adolescent Maritime Disaster Survivors: Results of A 12-Month Follow-Up Study

OBJECTIVE: This study is a prospective observational study on 75 late-adolescent survivors of a large passenger ship accident from immediately after the accident to one year later. METHODS: Assessments of student survivors were conducted on day 2 and at months 1, 6, and 12. The PTSD Checklist (PCL), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), State subscale of the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) were administered. RESULTS: When the assessments for day 2 and month 12 were compared, all the scales, except the PCL-avoidance subscale, showed a significant improvement in symptoms among males. However, among females, all the scales, except the PCL-re-experience subscale and the STAI-S, failed to show a significant improvement. All the symptoms for both males and females showed a pattern that decreased to the lowest level at month 1 (camp-based controlled intervention period), then increased at months 6 and 12 (voluntary individual treatment after returning to school). CONCLUSION: The rapid deterioration of psychological symptoms was found during the chronic phase, when students returned to their daily routines and received voluntary individual therapy. There is a need to screen high-risk adolescents and be more attentive to them during this period.

Factores socio-demográficos, crecimiento y sintomatología postraumática en sobrevivientes del terremoto de Chile del 2010 / Socio-demographic factors, posttraumatic growth and symptoms in survivors of Chile earthquake 2010

El propósito de este estudio es evaluar la relación entre factores socio-demográficos y del evento con la sintomatología postraumática (SPT) y el crecimiento postraumático (CPT) en personas que perdieron su hogar en el terremoto de Chile del 27 de febrero de 2010. Con este fin, se seleccionaron 351 personas adultas, entre 18 y 84 años, de las cuales 63,2% eran mujeres. Se aplicó el Inventario de Crecimiento Postraumático y la Escala de Impacto de Evento Revisada, además de un cuestionario socio-demográfico. Se evidencia en el estudio la relación significativa con la SPT o el CPT de elementos tales como sexo, edad, ingresos económicos, cambio de comuna tras el sismo y la razón de la pérdida de la vivienda Se presentan los resultados y argumenta su alcance para la promoción y prevención de salud en sobrevivientes de desastres naturales.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship that socio-demographic and event factors share with post-traumatic symptomatology (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in people who lost their home in the earthquake that hit Chile on february 27th, 2010. To this end, 351 adults from 18 to 84 years old were selected, of whom 63.2% were women. For this study, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and the revised Impact of Event Scale (IES) were applied, in addition to a socio-demographic questionnaire. This study shows that elements such as gender, age, economic income, change of location after the earthquake, and the reason behind the loss of housing bear a significant relation with PTSD or PTG. Results are presented, and their consequences for health promotion and prevention in survivors of natural disasters are discussed. Keywords: posttraumatic

Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of the Child Report of Post-Traumatic Symptoms (CROPS) and the Parent Report of Post-Traumatic Symptoms (PROPS)

OBJECTIVES: The Child Report of Post-traumatic Symptoms (CROPS) and the Parent Report of Post-traumatic Symptoms (PROPS) are screening measures for post-traumatic symptoms in children. The present study aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of the Korean versions of the CROPS and the PROPS. METHODS: The Korean versions of the CROPS and the PROPS were administered to a sample of 304 children aged 6 to 15 years old. The internal reliability, test-retest reliability, factorial validity, predictive validity and concurrent validity were evaluated. RESULTS: The reliability of the CROPS and the PROPS was shown to have excellent internal consistency and test-retest correlation. The single factor structure of the PROPS was good and that of the CROPS was borderline acceptable according to confirmatory factor analysis. Other validity measures such as the predictive validity and concurrent validity were also shown to be satisfactory. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the Korean versions of the CROPS and the PROPS were reliable measures with satisfactory psychometric qualities. Because it takes less than 5 minutes to fill out the CROPS and the PROPS, respectively they can be quick and easy screening scales for assessing post-traumatic symptoms in Korean children.