a Centre for Women's Mental Health, Royal Women's Hospital , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.
Aging Ment Health. 2013;17(8):992-1002. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2013.799119. Epub 2013 May 28.
With a longitudinal prospective design, we examined the impact of floods on the mental and physical health of older adults and explored risk and protective factors.
Two hundred and seventy four older adults (age ≥60) completed surveys before and after a flood event. Both the surveys included measures of anxiety, depression, self-reported health, and satisfaction with life; the post-flood survey also included questionnaires on flood experience, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stoicism, and psychological coping with floods.
Compared to those not personally affected (78.8%), personally affected individuals (21.2%) reported significantly higher PTSD symptoms, with about one in six reporting PTSD symptoms that might require clinical attention. Personally affected individuals also reported a greater increase in anxiety post-flood, but changes in their depressive symptoms and self-reported health were not significantly different from those not personally affected. Greater flood exposure and the lack of social support were the risk factors for poorer mental and physical health. Higher stoicism was associated with higher post-flood depression and poorer self-reported mental health. The use of maladaptive coping, such as venting and distraction, was associated with greater deterioration in mental health after floods, whilst emotion-focused coping such as acceptance, positive reframing, and humour, was protective against such deterioration.
Floods had adverse psychological impacts on some older adults who were personally affected. Despite the evidence of resilience, a small proportion of older adults experienced significant difficulties after the floods. The findings in this study help understand older adults' psychological responses to disasters and have practical implications for service planning and delivery.
采用纵向前瞻性设计，我们研究了洪水对老年人身心健康的影响，并探讨了风险和保护因素。
274 名老年人（年龄≥60 岁）在洪水事件前后完成了调查。两次调查均包括焦虑、抑郁、自我报告的健康状况和生活满意度的测量；洪水后调查还包括洪水经历、创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状、坚忍不拔和心理应对洪水的问卷。
与未受个人影响的老年人（78.8%）相比，受个人影响的老年人（21.2%）报告的 PTSD 症状明显更高，约六分之一的人报告可能需要临床关注的 PTSD 症状。受个人影响的老年人在洪水后也报告了更高的焦虑增加，但他们的抑郁症状和自我报告的健康状况变化与未受个人影响的老年人没有显著差异。更大的洪水暴露和缺乏社会支持是心理健康和身体健康较差的风险因素。更高的坚忍不拔与洪水后更高的抑郁和较差的自我报告心理健康相关。采用适应不良的应对方式，如发泄和分心，与洪水后心理健康恶化相关，而情绪聚焦的应对方式，如接受、积极重塑和幽默，则可预防这种恶化。
洪水对一些受个人影响的老年人造成了不良的心理影响。尽管有恢复力的证据，但一小部分老年人在洪水后经历了重大困难。本研究的结果有助于了解老年人对灾害的心理反应，并对服务规划和提供具有实际意义。
