Fatigue and relating to others 3 months after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Most inhabitants of Tohoku district suffer from chronic fatigue after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Chronic fatigue following disasters may lead to serious illness, even death. Posttraumatic growth appears to counteract fatigue. We predicted that the chronic fatigue would be inversely related to the posttraumatic growth factor "relating to others," as represented by mutual helping and a strong sense of connection with humanity. Young 59 healthy volunteers, residing in Miyagi prefecture, were recruited 3 months after the disaster. We measured the subjects׳ total scores on the Japanese version of the Checklist Individual Strength questionnaire (CIS), the Trait Anxiety (T-A) subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and four subscores on the posttraumatic growth inventory (PTGI). Stepwise regression analyses were conducted with score on the CIS as the dependent variable and other scores as independent variables. Scores on the "relating to others" factor of the PTGI showed a significant negative relationship with the CIS score, whereas the scores on the T-A subscale of the STAI and the CES-D were positively related to the CIS score. Human ties and mutual help were negatively related to the degree of the chronic fatigue.
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan. Electronic address: seishu@idac.tohoku.ac.jp.
Seishu
S
Nakagawa
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Motoaki
M
Sugiura
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; Division of Medical Neuroimage Analysis, Department of Community Medical Supports, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Atsushi
A
Sekiguchi
Smart Ageing International Research Center, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Yuka
Y
Kotozaki
Smart Ageing International Research Center, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Tsuyoshi
T
Araki
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
Sugiko
S
Hanawa
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
Carlos
C
Makoto Miyauchi
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
Atsushi
A
Sakuma
Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; Smart Ageing International Research Center, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, IDAC, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Ryuta
R
Kawashima
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015984:Causality; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
Chronic fatigue; Disaster; Posttraumatic growth; Relating to others