Associations between Disaster Exposures, Peritraumatic Distress, and Posttraumatic Stress Responses in Fukushima Nuclear Plant Workers following the 2011 Nuclear Accident: The Fukushima NEWS Project Study

Jun Shigemura, Takeshi Tanigawa, Daisuke Nishi, Yutaka Matsuoka, Soichiro Nomura and Aihide Yoshino

PLOS ONE, 2014, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-8

Abstract: Background: The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The nearby Daini plant also experienced substantial damage but remained intact. Workers for the both plants experienced multiple stressors as disaster victims and workers, as well as the criticism from the public due to their company's post-disaster management. Little is known about the psychological pathway mechanism from nuclear disaster exposures, distress during and immediately after the event (peritraumatic distress; PD), to posttraumatic stress responses (PTSR). Methods: A self-report questionnaire was administered to 1,411 plant employees (Daiichi, n = 831; Daini, n = 580) 2–3 months post-disaster (total response rate: 80.2%). The socio-demographic characteristics and disaster-related experiences were assessed as independent variables. PD and PTSR were measured by the Japanese versions of Peritraumatic Distress Inventory and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, respectively. The analysis was conducted separately for the two groups. Bivariate regression analyses were performed to assess the relationships between independent variables, PD, and PTSR. Significant variables were subsequently entered in the multiple regression analyses to explore the pathway mechanism for development of PTSR. Results: For both groups, PTSR highly associated with PD (Daiichi: adjusted β, 0.66; p

Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0087516

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087516

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