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Indelible Grief: Prevalence and Risk Factors for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Shidu Parents 6 Years After the Wenchuan Earthquake

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Abstract

A unique group of Chinese earthquake victims, known as Shidu parents, lost their only child in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in these Shidu parents 6 years after the Wenchuan earthquake and to explore the related risk factors. A cross-sectional sample survey was conducted to collect data in the most severely earthquake affected counties (n = 176). The PTSD prevalence in the Shidu parents was found to be 83.5 %, with the risk factors identified as being of Han ethnicity, having lost a young child (18–27 years old), having lost a male child, living in the countryside and having received low social support (p < 0.05, 95 % CI). Mental health recovery interventions are recommended for Shidu parents suffering from PTSD.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Major Bidding Program of the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No.12&ZD217), and the Major Program of the Social Science Foundation of Sichuan (Grant No. SC13ZD06). We appreciate this organization for its support in both finance and spirit. Further, we would like to thank all of the interviewees who showed great patience in answering the questionnaires.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Emergency Management and Reconstruction in Post-disaster, Sichuan University, No. 24, South Section 1, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, People’s Republic of China

    Jiuping Xu, Ziqi Wang & Yang Sun

Authors
  1. Jiuping Xu
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  2. Ziqi Wang
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  3. Yang Sun
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Correspondence to Jiuping Xu.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

Jiuping Xu declares that he has no conflict of interest. Ziqi Wang declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Xu, J., Wang, Z. & Sun, Y. Indelible Grief: Prevalence and Risk Factors for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Shidu Parents 6 Years After the Wenchuan Earthquake. Curr Psychol 36, 675–682 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9456-9

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