Sveen Josefin, Pohlkamp Lilian, Öhlén Joakim, Sandberg Jonas, Brandänge Kristina, Gustavsson Petter
Palliative Research Centre, Ersta Sköndal University College, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2016 Nov 28;11(11):e0166441. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166441. eCollection 2016.
Little is known about posttraumatic stress (PTS) reactions in bereaved individuals following loss in disaster who were not directly exposed to disaster. The aim of the present study was to examine the course of PTS up to three years after losing relatives in the MS Estonia ferry disaster, one of the worst maritime disasters in modern times.
Seven postal surveys were sent out over three years post-disaster. The respondents were invited and added consecutively during the three years and 938 relatives participated in one or more of the surveys, representing 89% of the MS Estonia's Swedish victims. The survey included the Impact of Event Scale (IES) to measure PTS. Latent growth curve modeling was used to analyze PTS over time.
The majority of bereaved individuals had high levels of PTS. At three years post-loss, 62% of the respondents scored above the recommended cut-off value on the IES. Over time, PTS symptoms declined, but initially high symptoms of PTS were associated with a slower recovery rate.
The present finding suggests that being an indirectly-exposed disaster-bereaved close-relative can lead to very high levels of PTS which are sustained for several years.
对于在灾难中失去亲人但未直接暴露于灾难的丧亲者的创伤后应激（PTS）反应，人们了解甚少。本研究的目的是调查在爱沙尼亚号渡轮灾难（现代最严重的海难之一）中失去亲人后长达三年的PTS病程。
在灾难发生后的三年里共发出七次邮寄调查问卷。在这三年中持续邀请受访者并将其纳入，938名亲属参与了一项或多项调查，占爱沙尼亚号瑞典遇难者的89%。该调查包括用于测量PTS的事件影响量表（IES）。采用潜在增长曲线模型分析随时间变化的PTS情况。
大多数丧亲者有高水平的PTS。在失去亲人三年后，62%的受访者在IES上的得分高于推荐的临界值。随着时间推移，PTS症状有所下降，但最初较高的PTS症状与较慢的恢复速度相关。
目前的研究结果表明，作为间接暴露于灾难的丧亲近亲会导致非常高水平的PTS，且这种情况会持续数年。
