TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychological outcomes following the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires
AU - Bryant, R
AU - Waters, E
AU - Gibbs, L
AU - Gallagher, Hugh
AU - Pattison, Philippa
AU - Lusher, Dean
AU - MacDougall, Colin
AU - Harms, Louise
AU - Block, Karen
AU - Snowdon, Elyse
AU - Sinnott, Vikki
AU - Ireton, Greg
AU - Richardson, J
AU - Forbes, David
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - Objective: We aimed to map the prevalence and predictors of psychological outcomes in affected communities 34 years after the Black Saturday bushfires in the state of Victoria, Australia. Methods: Baseline assessment of a longitudinal cohort study in high-, medium-, and low-affected communities in ictoria. Participants included 1017 residents of high-, medium-, and low-affected fire communities. Participants were surveyed by means of a telephone and web-based interview between December 2011 and January 2013. The survey included measures of fire-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and general PTSD from other traumatic events, major depressive episode, alcohol use, and general psychological distress. Results: The majority of respondents in the high- (77.3%), medium- (81.3%), and ow-affected (84.9%) communities reported no psychological distress on the K6 screening scale. More participants in the high-affected communities (15.6%) reported probable PTSD linked to the bushfires than medium- (7.2%) and low-affected (1.0%) communities (odds ratio (OR): 4.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.618.00, p = 0.000). Similar patterns were observed for depression (12.9%, 8.8%, 6.3%, respectively) (OR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.172.85, p = 0.008) and severe psychological distress (9.8%, 5.0%, 4.9%, respectively) (OR: 2.08, 95% CI: 1.233.55, p = 0.007). All communities reported elevated rates of heavy drinking (24.7%, 18.7%, 19.6%, respectively); however, these were higher in the high-affected communities (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.011.89, p = 0.04). Severe psychological distress was predicted by fear for ones life in the bushfires, death of someone close to them in the bushfires, and subsequent stressors. One-third of those with severe psychological distress did not receive mental health assistance in the previous month. Conclusions: Several years following the Black Saturday bushfires the majority of affected people demonstrated resilience without indications of psychological distress. A significant minority of people in the high-affected communities reported persistent PTSD, depression, and psychological distress, indicating the need for promotion of the use of health and complementary services, community-based initiatives, and family and other informal supports, to target these persistent problems.
AB - Objective: We aimed to map the prevalence and predictors of psychological outcomes in affected communities 34 years after the Black Saturday bushfires in the state of Victoria, Australia. Methods: Baseline assessment of a longitudinal cohort study in high-, medium-, and low-affected communities in ictoria. Participants included 1017 residents of high-, medium-, and low-affected fire communities. Participants were surveyed by means of a telephone and web-based interview between December 2011 and January 2013. The survey included measures of fire-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and general PTSD from other traumatic events, major depressive episode, alcohol use, and general psychological distress. Results: The majority of respondents in the high- (77.3%), medium- (81.3%), and ow-affected (84.9%) communities reported no psychological distress on the K6 screening scale. More participants in the high-affected communities (15.6%) reported probable PTSD linked to the bushfires than medium- (7.2%) and low-affected (1.0%) communities (odds ratio (OR): 4.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.618.00, p = 0.000). Similar patterns were observed for depression (12.9%, 8.8%, 6.3%, respectively) (OR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.172.85, p = 0.008) and severe psychological distress (9.8%, 5.0%, 4.9%, respectively) (OR: 2.08, 95% CI: 1.233.55, p = 0.007). All communities reported elevated rates of heavy drinking (24.7%, 18.7%, 19.6%, respectively); however, these were higher in the high-affected communities (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.011.89, p = 0.04). Severe psychological distress was predicted by fear for ones life in the bushfires, death of someone close to them in the bushfires, and subsequent stressors. One-third of those with severe psychological distress did not receive mental health assistance in the previous month. Conclusions: Several years following the Black Saturday bushfires the majority of affected people demonstrated resilience without indications of psychological distress. A significant minority of people in the high-affected communities reported persistent PTSD, depression, and psychological distress, indicating the need for promotion of the use of health and complementary services, community-based initiatives, and family and other informal supports, to target these persistent problems.
KW - Black Saturday
KW - bushfires
KW - disaster
KW - Post-traumatic stress disorder
KW - resilience
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84903547278&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0004867414534476
DO - 10.1177/0004867414534476
M3 - Article
VL - 48
SP - 634
EP - 643
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
SN - 0004-8674
IS - 7
ER -