Posttraumatic stress reactions in children and adolescents one year after the 1999 Taiwan Chi-Chi Earthquake

This study was to investigate the range and severity of post-traumatic stress reactions displayed by children and adolescents residing near the epicenter, one year after the Taiwan Chi-Chi Earthquake and to examine the relations of these symptoms to developmental stages and objective features of trauma exposure. Earthquake Exposure Index for Youths and Child Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index were administered to 1,169 children and 1,201 adolescents from two heavily impacted townships. Severity of posttraumatic stress reactions was found to vary by a "dose effect" of earthquake exposure. Variation in the prevalence of PTSD symptoms was found across age and gender groups. Younger children and females reported more PTSD symptoms. More adolescents disclosed restricted negative affects and guilty feelings, whereas younger boys presented such symptoms in a more extreme way. Given that age and gender show variable effects on post-traumatic symptoms developed, there may be a need to implement a broad disaster recovery project with periodic screenings as well as age-specific and gender- appropriate mental health program.