Pre-disaster social support is protective for onset of post-disaster depression: Prospective study from the Great East Japan Earthquake & Tsunami.

ABSTRACT: We examined whether pre-disaster social support functions as a disaster preparedness resource to mitigate post-disaster depressive symptoms among older survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. The participants were 3,567 individuals aged ≥65 years living in Iwanuma city who completed a baseline survey as part of the nationwide Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study seven months before the disaster. A follow-up survey was administered approximately 2.5 years after the disaster. The analysis included a total of 2,293 participants, and social support (giving and receiving emotional & instrumental help) before the disaster was measured using four items. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the GDS with a cut-off score of 4/5 (not depressed/depressed). We discovered that

SUBMITTER: Sasaki Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6923367 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature