PTSD symptoms in elementary school children after Typhoon Rusa.
OBJECTIVE
A natural disaster negatively affects children's emotional and behavioral adjustment. The purpose of this paper was to examine the prevalence, symptoms, and correlates of PTSD after the occurrence of Typhoon Rusa.


METHODS
261 elementary school children living in Kimcheon, which was a devastated rural area in South Korea by Typhoon Rusa, were selected. Data were collected 4 months after the disaster using the PTSD Reaction Index categories recommended by Frederick, severity of PTSD.


RESULTS
12.3% of the children had either moderate or severe PTSD symptoms; 22.7% reported mild symptoms; and the remaining 65% had sub-clinical symptoms of PTSD. The most frequent symptom was recurrent fear(67.0%). 13% to 17.2% of children exhibited difficulty in concentration, sleep disturbance, and guilt feeling. The regression model of severity of PTSD was composed of the level of exposure to traumatic experiences, grade in school, gender, negative coping style, and social support, and explained 34.3% for PTSD symptoms. Exposure to traumatic experiences was the strongest factor of all predictors.


CONCLUSIONS
Emotional support from friends and coping style were correlated with PTSD severity. School-based interventions that emphasizes coping with disaster related problems and problem-solving may prove to be useful, and may aid in building close and supportive ties with teachers, classmates, and friends.
Lee
Insook
I
Community Health Nursing, Seoul National University, 28 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-799, Korea. lisook@snu.ac.kr
Ha
Yang Sook
YS
Kim
Yoon A
YA
Kwon
Yong Hee
YH
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012423:Rural Health; D012572:School Health Services; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D017741:Survivors