Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol United Kingdom.
J Trauma Stress. 2021 Feb;34(1):46-55. doi: 10.1002/jts.22616. Epub 2020 Nov 2.
Anger is an important dimension of affect and a prominent feature of posttraumatic mental health, but it is commonly overlooked in postdisaster settings. We aimed to examine the distribution and implications of significant anger problems in the aftermath of a natural disaster, via analyses of Beyond Bushfires survey data from 736 residents of rural communities 5 years after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia. Assessments included the five-item Dimensions of Anger Reaction (DAR-5) scale along with measures of PTSD, depression, and significant mental illness, and indicators of life satisfaction, suicidality, hostile aggressive behavior, and violence exposure. The results indicated that approximately 10% of respondents from areas highly affected by the bushfires scored above the provisional cutoff criteria for significant anger problems on the DAR-5, which was a more than 3-fold increase, OR = 3.26, relative to respondents from areas of low-to-moderate bushfire impact. The rates were higher among women, younger participants, and those who were unemployed, and co-occurred commonly, although not exclusively, with other postdisaster mental health problems. Anger problems were also associated with lower life satisfaction, β = -.31, an 8-fold increase in suicidal ideation, OR = 8.68, and a nearly 13-fold increase in hostile aggressive behavior, OR = 12.98. There were associations with anger problems and violence exposure, which were reduced when controlling for covariates, including probable PTSD. The findings provide evidence indicating that anger is a significant issue for postdisaster mental health and should be considered routinely alongside other posttraumatic mental health issues.
愤怒是情感的一个重要维度，也是创伤后心理健康的一个突出特征，但在灾后环境中通常被忽视。我们旨在通过对澳大利亚维多利亚州 2009 年“黑色星期六”丛林大火 5 年后农村社区 736 名居民的“超越丛林大火”调查数据进行分析，研究自然灾害后严重愤怒问题的分布和影响。评估包括五分量表愤怒反应量表(DAR-5)，以及创伤后应激障碍、抑郁和严重精神疾病的测量指标，以及生活满意度、自杀意念、敌对攻击行为和暴力暴露的指标。结果表明，约有 10%的受访者来自受丛林大火影响严重的地区，其在 DAR-5 上的愤怒问题显著得分超过了暂定的临界值标准，这一比例比受低至中度丛林大火影响地区的受访者高出 3 倍多，OR=3.26。在女性、年轻参与者和失业者中，这一比例更高，而且尽管并非排他性地，与其他灾后心理健康问题共同发生。愤怒问题还与较低的生活满意度相关，β=-.31，自杀意念增加 8 倍，OR=8.68，敌对攻击行为增加近 13 倍，OR=12.98。愤怒问题与暴力暴露有关，当控制协变量（包括可能的创伤后应激障碍）时，这些关联会减少。研究结果表明，愤怒是灾后心理健康的一个重大问题，应该与其他创伤后心理健康问题一起常规考虑。
