Quality of life, psychological wellbeing and resilience: a survey on the Italian population living in a new lodging after the earthquake of April 2009.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to estimate the quality of life and the psychological wellbeing as a result of the earthquake which occurred the 6th of April 2009 and that struck the population of the city of L'Aquila.


METHODS
A random sample of 281 subjects, from the population that had the possibility of living in a temporary lodging provided by the State, were interviewed after the earthquake, during the period between July and October 2010. Two self-administered questionnaires were used: the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) and the Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS II).


RESULTS
The women's health status is worse than the men's, this is true both on a general level (79,24 vs 70,55), and on different estimated dimensions. Health status is significantly worse in older age groups (F2;245=4,34, p=0,0140): the elderly appear to be more depressed (F2;245=6,52, p=0,0017) and to have less self-control (F2;245=3,06, p=0,0487) than the younger.


CONCLUSIONS
Generally women tend to experience greater emotional involvement in social and interpersonal relationships. Although many months have passed since the catastrophic event, feelings of disease and a sense of impotence (about life) are still persistent in people, even though they generally are hopeful about the future.
Department of Life, Health And Environment Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy.
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Cofini
Department of Life, Health And Environment Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy.
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A
Carbonelli
Department of Life, Health And Environment Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy.
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MR
Cecilia
Department of Life, Health And Environment Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Italy.
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di Orio
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult