Post traumatic stress disorder and coping in a sample of adult survivors of the Italian earthquake

Abstract

The aim was to investigate the prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in people who had left their damaged homes and were still living in temporary housing more than a year after the April 2009 L'Aquila (Italy) earthquake. In addition, we evaluated the differences in coping strategies implemented by persons who had and who did not have PTSD. A cross-sectional prevalence study was carried out on a sample of 281 people aged >18 years and living in temporary housing after the earthquake. The questionnaires used include the Davidson Trauma Scale and the Brief Cope. The prevalence of PTSD was 43%. Women and the non-employed were more vulnerable to PTSD, while, age and level of education were not associated with PTSD. Those with PTSD symptoms often employed maladaptive coping strategies for dealing with earthquake and had the highest scores in the domains of denial, venting, behavioral disengagement, self-blame. By contrast, those without PTSD generally had more adaptive coping mechanisms. Adults who were living in temporary housing after the earthquake experienced high rates of PTSD. The difference in coping mechanisms between those who have PTSD and those who do not also suggests that they influence the likeliness of developing PTSD.

Keywords: Natural disasters; Post-traumatic syndrome; Prevalence; Psychological distress.