Brown Matthew R G, Agyapong Vincent, Greenshaw Andrew J, Cribben Ivor, Brett-MacLean Pamela, Drolet Julie, McDonald-Harker Caroline, Omeje Joy, Mankowsi Monica, Noble Shannon, Kitching Deborah T, Silverstone Peter H
Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Front Psychiatry. 2019 Aug 30;10:623. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00623. eCollection 2019.
The May 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada forced evacuation of the population of 88,000 individuals and destroyed 10% of the homes. Youth are particularly impacted by disaster. Eighteen months after the wildfire, Fort McMurray Public and Catholic Schools surveyed 3,252 of the 4,407 students in Grades 7-12 to determine possible long-term psychological impacts. The survey included validated measurement scales for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, quality of life, self-esteem, and resilience. Data analysis was possible for only 3,070 students, i.e., 70% of the total student population. Anonymized data were analyzed to compare students who directly experienced lesser or greater impact from the wildfire, with greater impact defined as personally seeing the fire or having one's home destroyed. Also, students with greater or lesser scores on the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-12) were compared. Of the 3,070 students, 37% met criteria for probable PTSD; 31% met criteria for probable depression, and 17% for probable depression of at least moderate severity; 27% of students met criteria for probable anxiety, and 15% for probable alcohol or substance use disorder; 46% of all students met criteria for one or more probable diagnosis of PTSD, depression, anxiety, or alcohol/substance abuse, and this included students who were both present and not present in Fort McMurray at the time of the wildfire. Students with greater impact from the wildfire exhibited significantly higher scores on measures of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and alcohol/substance use. They also had lower self-esteem and quality of life scores. Students with lower resilience scores exhibited a similar pattern. These findings highlight first the negative impact of disasters on youth mental health, particularly for those who directly experience wildfire, and second the role of resilience on youth mental health, with lower resilience associated with substantially lower mental health outcomes. These results emphasize the need for long-term mental health supports for youth post-disaster, with specific focus on increasing youth resilience, which may serve as a protective factor against effects of disaster on mental health.
2016年5月，加拿大阿尔伯塔省麦克默里堡发生的野火迫使8.8万人撤离，10%的房屋被摧毁。青少年尤其受到灾难的影响。野火发生18个月后，麦克默里堡公立学校和天主教学校对4407名7至12年级学生中的3252名进行了调查，以确定可能存在的长期心理影响。该调查包括用于创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）、抑郁、焦虑、药物、酒精和烟草使用、生活质量、自尊和复原力的经过验证的测量量表。仅对3070名学生（即占学生总数的70%）进行了数据分析。对匿名数据进行分析，以比较直接经历野火影响较小或较大的学生，其中较大影响定义为亲眼看到火灾或自己的房屋被摧毁。此外，还比较了儿童和青少年复原力测量量表（CYRM - 12）得分较高或较低的学生。在3070名学生中，37%符合可能患有创伤后应激障碍的标准；31%符合可能患有抑郁症的标准，17%符合可能患有至少中度严重程度抑郁症的标准；27%的学生符合可能患有焦虑症的标准，15%符合可能患有酒精或物质使用障碍的标准；46%的学生符合一项或多项可能的创伤后应激障碍、抑郁症、焦虑症或酒精/药物滥用诊断标准，这包括野火发生时在麦克默里堡的学生和不在那里的学生。受野火影响较大的学生在创伤后应激障碍、抑郁、焦虑和酒精/物质使用的测量指标上得分显著更高。他们的自尊和生活质量得分也较低。复原力得分较低的学生表现出类似的模式。这些发现首先凸显了灾难对青少年心理健康的负面影响，尤其是对那些直接经历野火的青少年，其次凸显了复原力对青少年心理健康的作用，复原力较低与心理健康结果大幅下降相关。这些结果强调了灾后为青少年提供长期心理健康支持的必要性，特别注重提高青少年的复原力，这可能作为抵御灾难对心理健康影响的保护因素。
