Mental Health Status of Children After the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident.
The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, might have affected the mental health status of children. To assess the mental health status, we measured the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in 15 274 children (aged 4-15 years). The proportions of those who scored above the cutoff (≥16) of SDQ, reflecting the clinical range of the mental health status, were 25.0% (aged 4-6 years), 22.0% (aged 7-12 years, and 16.3% (aged 13-15 years), which were higher than that in the usual state (9.5%). We also explored the possibility that the distribution on the Fukushima prefectural map of the proportions of those who scored above the cutoff (≥16) of SDQ might correspond with the environmental radiation levels, but there was no significant correlation.
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Hirobumi
H
Mashiko
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Hirooki
H
Yabe
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Masaharu
M
Maeda
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Syuntaro
S
Itagaki
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Yasuto
Y
Kunii
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Tetsuya
T
Shiga
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Itaru
I
Miura
2 National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
Yuriko
Y
Suzuki
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Seiji
S
Yasumura
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Hajime
H
Iwasa
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Shin-Ichi
SI
Niwa
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Akira
A
Ohtsuru
1 Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Masafumi
M
Abe
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020380:Needs Assessment
PTSD; SDQ; child; earthquake; mental health; nuclear power plant; tsunami