Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A synthesis of the findings from the Quake Impact Study: a two-year investigation of the psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper summarises the major findings from the Quake Impact Study (QIS), a four-phase longitudinal project that was conducted in the aftermath of the 1989 Newcastle (Australia) earthquake. A total of 3,484 subjects participated in at least one component of the QIS, comprising a stratified sample of 3,007 drawn from community electoral rolls and 477 from specially targeted supplementary samples 9the injured, the displaced, the owners of damaged businesses, and the helpers). Subjects' initial earthquake experiences were rated in terms of weighted indices of exposure to threat and disruption. Psychological morbidity was measured at each phase using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES). Selected findings and key conclusions are presented for each of six areas of investigation: service utilisation during the first 6 months post-disaster; patterns of earthquake experience and short-term (6-month) psychosocial outcome; earthquake exposure and medium term (2-year) psychosocial outcome; vulnerability factors and medium-term psychosocial outcome; specific community groups at increased risk (e.g., the elderly and immigrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds); the effects of stress debriefing for helpers. Threshold morbidity (i.e., likely caseness) rates are also presented for a broad range of subgroups. In addition to presenting an overview of the QIS, this paper synthesises the major findings and discusses their implications for future disaster management and research from a mental health perspective.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Green BL (1982) Assessing levels of psychological impairment following disaster: consideration of actual and methodological dimensions. J Nerv Ment Dis 170: 544–552

    Google Scholar 

  2. McFarlane AC (1984) The Ash Wednesday bushfires in South Australia: implications for planning for future post-disaster services. Med J Aust 141: 286–291

    Google Scholar 

  3. Figley CR (ed) (1985) Trauma and its wake: the study and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Brunner/Mazel, New York

    Google Scholar 

  4. Horowitz M (1985) Disasters and psychological responses to stress. Psychiatr Ann 15: 161–167

    Google Scholar 

  5. Raphael B (1986) When disaster strikes: how individuals and communities cope with catastrophe. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  6. Shore JH, Tatum EL, Vollmer WM (1986) Evaluation of the mental effects of disaster, Mount St. Helens eruption. Am J Public Health 76 Suppl: 76–83

    Google Scholar 

  7. Shore JH, Tatum EL, Vollmer WM (1986) Psychiatric reactions to disaster: the Mount St. Helens experience. Am J Psychiatry 143: 590–595

    Google Scholar 

  8. McFarlane AC (1988) The aetiology of post-traumatic stress disorders following a natural disaster. Br J Psychiatry 152: 116–121

    Google Scholar 

  9. McFarlane AC (1988) Relationships between psychiatric impairment and a natural disaster: the role of distress. Psychol Med 18: 129–139

    Google Scholar 

  10. Gist R, Lubin B (eds) (1989) Psychosocial aspects of disaster. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  11. Canino G, Bravo M, Rubio-Stipec M, Woodbury M (1990) The impact of disaster on mental health: prospective and retrospective analyses. Int J Ment Health 19: 51–69

    Google Scholar 

  12. Green BL (1985) Conceptual and methodological issues in assessing the psychological impact of disaster. In: Sowder BJ (ed) Disasters and mental health: selected contemporary perspectives. Centre for Mental Health Studies of Emergencies, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, pp 179–195

    Google Scholar 

  13. Green BL, Grace MC, Glesser GC (1985) Identifying survivors at risk: longterm impairment following the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. J Consult Clin Psychol 53: 672–678

    Google Scholar 

  14. Raphael B, Lundin T, Weisaeth L (1989) A research method for the study of psychological and psychiatric aspects of disaster. Acta Psychiatr Scand 80 Suppl 353: 1–75

    Google Scholar 

  15. Green BL (1991) Evaluating the effects of disasters. Psychol Assess J Consult Clin Psychol 3: 538–546

    Google Scholar 

  16. Carr VJ, Lewin TJ, Carter GL, Webster RA (1992) Patterns of service utilisation following the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: findings from Phase 1 of the Quake Impact Study. Aust J Public Health 16: 360–369

    Google Scholar 

  17. Webster RA, Lewin TJ (1993) Pre-traumatic stress disorder? In: Carr VJ (ed) The spectrum of traumatic stress: proceedings of the inaugural Lingard symposium. Hunter Institute of Mental Health, Newcastle, pp 27–30

    Google Scholar 

  18. Carr VJ (1993) Non-traumatic stress disorder. In: Carr VJ (ed) The spectrum of traumatic stress: proceedings of the inaugural Lingard symposium. Hunter Institute of Mental Health, Newcastle, pp 31–38

    Google Scholar 

  19. Kenardy JA, Webster RA (1993) Does stress debriefing work? In: Carr VJ (ed) The spectrum of traumatic stress: proceedings of the inaugural Lingard symposium. Hunter Institute of Mental Health, Newcastle, pp 39–44

    Google Scholar 

  20. Webster RA, McDonald R, Lewin TJ, Carr VJ (1995) Effects of a natural disaster on immigrants and host population. J Nerv Ment Dis 183: 390–397

    Google Scholar 

  21. Carr VJ, Lewin TJ, Webster RA, Hazell PL, Kenardy JA, Carter GL (1995) Psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: I. Community disaster experiences and psychological morbidity 6 months post-disaster. Psychol Med 25: 539–555

    Google Scholar 

  22. Kenardy JA, Webster RA, Lewin TJ, Carr VJ, Hazell PL, Carter GL (1996) Stress debriefing and patterns of recovery following a natural disaster. J Trauma Stress 9: 37–49

    Google Scholar 

  23. Ticehurst S, Webster RA, Carr VJ, Lewin TJ (1996) The psychosocial impact of an earthquake on the elderly. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry (in press)

  24. Carr VJ, Lewin TJ, Webster RA, Kenardy JA, Hazell PL, Carter GL (1997) Psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: II. Exposure and morbidity profiles during the first 2 years post-disaster. Psychol Med (in press)

  25. Carr VJ, Lewin TJ, Kenardy JA, Webster RA, Hazell PL, Carter GL, Williamson M (1997) Psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: III. Role of vulnerability factors in post-disaster morbidity. Psychol Med (in press)

  26. Drinkwater JA (1993) Psychiatric morbidity in adults dislocated from their homes in the aftermath of the Newcastle earthquake. Master of Psychology (Clinical) thesis, University of Newcastle (Auchmuty library, thesis: 1501), Australia

    Google Scholar 

  27. Taylor JM (1993) Psychiatric disorders in a group of adults physically injured during the Newcastle earthquake. Master of Psychology (Clinical) thesis, University of Newcastle (Auch muty library, thesis: 1515), Australia

    Google Scholar 

  28. Lord M (1990) The relationship between the fears of parents and children: the Newcastle earthquake. Honours thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia

    Google Scholar 

  29. Webster RA (In preparation) Post-traumatic stress reactions following an earthquake: A cognitive processing model of PTSD. PhD thesis, University of Newcastle, Australia

  30. Goldberg DP (1972) The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire. Oxford University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  31. Horowitz M, Wilner N, Alvarez W (1979) The Impact of Event Scale: a measure of subjective stress. Psychosom Med 41: 209–218

    Google Scholar 

  32. Tucker MB (1982) Social support and coping: applications for the study of female drug abuse. J Soc Issues 38: 117–137

    Google Scholar 

  33. Billings AG, Moos RH (1981) The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events. J Behav Med 4: 139–157

    Google Scholar 

  34. Derogatis L (1977) SCL-90-R version: manual-I. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  35. Beck AT, Rial WY, Rickels K (1974) Short form of depression inventory: cross validation. Psychol Rep 34: 1184–1196

    Google Scholar 

  36. Singh B, Lewin T, Raphael B, Johnson P, Walton J (1987) Minor psychiatric morbidity in a casualty population: identification, attempted intervention and six month follow-up. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 21: 231–240

    Google Scholar 

  37. Duncan-Jones P (1983) Short stable measures of extraversion and neuroticism for the Australian general population. NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Australian National University, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  38. Nunn KP, Lewin TJ, Walton JM, Carr VJ (1996) The construction and characteristics of an instrument to measure personal hopefulness. Psychol Med 26: 531–545

    Google Scholar 

  39. Andrews G, Pollock C, Stewart G (1989) The determinants of defense style by questionnaire. Arch Gen Psychiatry 64: 455–460

    Google Scholar 

  40. Andrews G, Singh M, Bond M (1993) The Defense Style Questionnaire. J Nerv Ment Dis 181: 246–256

    Google Scholar 

  41. Dixon WJ, Brown MB, Engelman L, Hill MA, Jennrich RI (eds) (1988) BMDP statistical software manual, vol 1 and 2. University of California Press, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  42. Foa EB, Steketee G, Rothbaum BO (1989) Behavioural/cognitive conceptualizations of post-traumatic stress disorder. Behav Ther 20: 155–176

    Google Scholar 

  43. Weisaeth L (1989) A study of behavioural responses to an industrial disaster. Acta Psychiatr Scand [Suppl] 355: 13–24

    Google Scholar 

  44. Dennerstein L, Astbury J, Morse C (1993) Psychosocial and mental health aspects of women's health. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  45. Desjarlis R, Eisenberg L, Good B, Kleinman A (1995) World mental health: Problems and priorities in low-income countries. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 179–206

    Google Scholar 

  46. Deahl MP, Gillham AB, Thomas J, Searle MM, Srinivasan M (1994) Psychological sequelae following the Gulf War. Factors associated with subsequent morbidity and the effectiveness of psychological debriefing. Br J Psychiatry 165: 6–65

    Google Scholar 

  47. Robinson RC, Mitchell JT (1995) Getting some balance back into the debriefing debate. Bull Aus Psychol Soc 17: 5–10

    Google Scholar 

  48. Kenardy JA, Carr V (1996) Imbalance in the debriefing debate: what we don't know far outweighs what we do. Bull Aust Psychol Soc 18: 4–6

    Google Scholar 

  49. Creamer M, Burgess P, Buckingham W, Pattison P (1989) The psychological aftermath of the Queen Street shootings. Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  50. Shiraev N, Armstrong M (eds) (1978) Health care survey of Gosford-Wyong and Illawarra. Division of Health Services Research Report No. 77/9. Health Commission of New South Wales, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  51. Di Nardo PA, Barlow DH (1988) Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule — Revised (ADIS-R). Centre for Stress and Anxiety Disorders, State University of New York, Albany

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, 2308, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    V. J. Carr, T. J. Lewin & R. A. Webster

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia

    J. A. Kenardy

Authors
  1. V. J. Carr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. J. Lewin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. A. Webster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J. A. Kenardy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Carr, V.J., Lewin, T.J., Webster, R.A. et al. A synthesis of the findings from the Quake Impact Study: a two-year investigation of the psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 32, 123–136 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00794611

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00794611

Keywords

Search

Navigation