title: Pretyphoon panic attack history moderates the relationship between degree of typhoon exposure and posttyphoon PTSD and depression in a Vietnamese sample.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Predisaster risk factors are related to postdisaster psychopathology even at relatively low levels of disaster exposure. A history of panic attacks (PA) may convey risk for postdisaster psychopathology and has been linked to a wide range of psychiatric disorders in Western and non-Western samples. The present study examined the main and interactive effects of pretyphoon PA and level of typhoon exposure in the onset of posttyphoon posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression (MDD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a Vietnamese sample of typhoon survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Typhoon Xangsane interrupted a Vietnamese epidemiological mental health needs assessment, providing a rare opportunity for preand posttyphoon assessments. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses evaluated whether the main and interactive effects of typhoon exposure severity and PA history were significantly related to posttyphoon diagnoses, above and beyond age, health status, pretyphoon psychiatric screening results, and history of potentially traumatic events.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PA history moderated the relationship between severity of typhoon exposure and posttyphoon PTSD and MDD, but not GAD. Specifically, greater degree of exposure to the typhoon was significantly related to increased likelihood of postdisaster PTSD and MDD among individuals without a history of PA, above and beyond variance accounted for by pretyphoon psychiatric screening results. Individuals with a history of PA evidenced greater risk for postdisaster PTSD and MDD regardless of severity of typhoon exposure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preexisting PA may affect the nature of the relationship between disaster characteristics and prevalence of postdisaster PTSD and MDD within Vietnamese samples.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0126, USA. ecberenz@vcu.edu
authors.forename: Erin C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Berenz
authors.forename: Stephen K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Trapp
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Acierno
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Dean G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
authors.forename: Trinh Luong
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: Lam Tu
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Trung
authors.forename: Nguyen Thanh
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.forename: Tran
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tuan
authors.forename: La Thi
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Buoi
authors.forename: Tran Thu
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Tran Duc
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Thach
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaboury
authors.forename: Ananda B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Amstadter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004190:Disasters; D015987:Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult