title: Long-Term Fluctuations in Traumatic Symptoms of High School Girls Who Survived from the 2011 Japan Tsunami: Series of Questionnaire-Based Cross-Sectional Surveys.
abstract: On March 11, 2011, Japan was struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The tsunami caused tremendous damage and traumatized children. We aimed to evaluate and compare the changes in the traumatic symptoms of high school girls 8, 20, 30, and 42 months after the 2011 tsunami. The Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms for Children 15 items (PTSSC-15), a self-rating questionnaire on traumatic symptoms, was administered to 811 high school girls at the above-mentioned intervals. We calculated the total score, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) subscale, and depression subscale of PTSSC-15. The total score was correlated with house damage, evacuation experience, and bereavement experience. The PTSSC-15 total scores of high school girls with traumatic experience were significantly higher than the scores of children without these experiences (all p < 0.0001). The PTSSC-15 total score did not decrease significantly over time. Furthermore, the PTSD subscale of the PTSSC-15 did not significantly improved over the study duration. However, the depression subscale of the PTSSC-15 significantly improved at 30 months, but significantly worsened at 42 months (both p < 0.0001). This study demonstrates that the traumatic symptoms of high school girls who survived the massive tsunami fluctuated unpredictably with time. Nonetheless, high school girls continued to suffer depressive symptoms (insomnia, withdrawal, appetite loss, inattention, and physical symptoms) after 42 months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kohnodai Hospital, National Center of Global Health and Medicine, 1-7-1 Kohnodai, Ichikawa, Chiba, 272-8516, Japan. usami.masahide@hospk.ncgm.go.jp.
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1145-9971
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Usami
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kohnodai Hospital, National Center of Global Health and Medicine, 1-7-1 Kohnodai, Ichikawa, Chiba, 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwadare
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kohnodai Hospital, National Center of Global Health and Medicine, 1-7-1 Kohnodai, Ichikawa, Chiba, 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyota
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Mental Health, Imperial Gift Foundation, Aiiku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kodaira
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kohnodai Hospital, National Center of Global Health and Medicine, 1-7-1 Kohnodai, Ichikawa, Chiba, 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokage
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ushijima
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kohnodai Hospital, National Center of Global Health and Medicine, 1-7-1 Kohnodai, Ichikawa, Chiba, 272-8516, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Mental Health, Imperial Gift Foundation, Aiiku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067290:Behavior Rating Scale; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011153:Population; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D057192:Tsunamis
keywords: Child survivor; Earthquake; PTSD; Trauma; Tsunami