Mental health and mental intervention effect among Wenchuan earthquake survivors transferred to Chongqing / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To provide scientific basis for developing mental interventions for the wounded in major disasters by assessing the mental health status and the mental intervention effect among the Wenchuan earthquake survivors transferred to Chongqing.Methods A total of 389 transferred wounded survivors were examined by using questionnaires including general information questionnaire,Psychological Health Self-rating Questionnaire (PHSQ),Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90),Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) and Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ).According to PHSQ,the wounded were divided into control group and stress group.Then,the stress group was given mental intervention and taken the second mental evaluation one month later.Results Acute stress disorder (ASD) rate (30.08％) was remarkably observed in these transferred wounded,who were subsequently administered a set of mental intervention.The wounded whose PHSQ mark ≥8 were defined as the stress group (Group A) and the others as the control group ( Group B).Compared with Group B,Group A had higher scores in depression ( P ＜ 0.01 ),anxiety ( P ＜ 0.01 ) and consternation ( P ＜ 0.01 ),and lower scores in PSSS (P ＜0.01 ).Group A inclined to negative coping styles mainly including shrink back (P ＜ 0.01 ) and fantasy (P ＜0.01 ),while Group B inclined to coping styles mainly including rationalization and help.The PSSS score in Group A was significant lower than that in Group B (P ＜ 0.01 ).The scores in PHSQ,SCL-90 (anxiety and consternation),CSQ and PSSS were significantly improved after the mental intervention in Group A.Conclusions The incidence of ASD is high in the transferred wounded survivors and is mainly related with mental stress,such as emotional symptoms,negative coping styles and low perception of social support.Early mental interventions will help improve the psychological status of the transferred wounded.