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A Cross-Sectional Study on Risk Factors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Shidu Parents of the Sichuan Earthquake

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Abstract

Of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake survivors, there was a special group known as Shidu parents, who lost their only child in the disaster. The objective of this study was to estimate the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence in the Shidu parents from different counties and explore the related risk factors. Across-sectional sample survey was conducted to collect data in 10 heavily damaged counties (n = 176) and 12 moderately damaged counties (n = 148). Probable PTSD prevalence in Shidu parents from the heavily damaged counties (83.5 %) was found to be higher than that in the moderately damaged counties (72.3 %). Many associated PTSD risk factors were identified in the cross-sectional study, such as being of Han ethnicity, losing a young child (18–27), losing a male child, living in the countryside, receiving low social support over the previous 6 years, and having high resilience were significant in the heavily damaged areas, and being of Han ethnicity, having a low monthly income, having a high education level, losing a young child (18–27), losing a male child, and having high resilience in the moderately damaged areas.

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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, 610065, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Ziqi Wang & Jiuping Xu

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  1. Ziqi Wang
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  2. Jiuping Xu
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Correspondence to Jiuping Xu.

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Jiuping Xu and Ziqi Wang declares that they have no conflict of interest.

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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.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Wang, Z., Xu, J. A Cross-Sectional Study on Risk Factors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Shidu Parents of the Sichuan Earthquake. J Child Fam Stud 25, 2915–2923 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0454-1

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