title: Boom town mental health.
abstract: Population surveys were conducted, examining nonpsychotic psychiatric symptoms, life events, and problems in community living in Primrose, a community experiencing rapid growth in anticipation of the construction of a heavy oil extraction plant, and in Wolf Creek, a stable rural town. Psychiatric symptom levels were lower in the boom town than in Wolf Creek, but the Primrose symptom levels were comparable to those in Saskatchewan. More life events were experienced by Primrose residents who, despite lower symptom levels, had seen their physician more often for minor illnesses. The complaints about living in the town of Primrose matched those of boom town residents from elsewhere. There was no evidence to support the popular view that living in a boom town creates more nonpsychotic psychiatric symptomatology. The higher proportion of the boom town population using physician services for minor illnesses, the higher level of life events reported, and the high frequency of reported problems for families living in the boom town support suggestions that stress is associated with these conditions.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000416:Alberta; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D012922:Social Change; D012931:Social Environment; D012937:Social Mobility; D012940:Social Problems