Caste, Education, Family and Stress Disorders in Orissa Supercyclone

Examines (a) the determinants of posttraumatic stress, and (b) the impacts of caste status, educational level, and family size on stress disorders. Structured interview sessions were used to obtain data 3 months after the Orissa supercyclone. The sample comprised 130 cyclone exposed praple. Disaster victims experienced more intrusion and arousal symptoms, and less avoidance and numbing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. The avoidance and numbing symptoms were "decisive" symptoms to arrive at the diagnosis of such a stress disorder. Fifty % of the victims suffered from posttraumatic stress. Anxiety and externality of survivors intensified post-tranmatic stress but deprrssion failed to predict such stress. Survivors from low castes, being less educated, and from larger families were more vulnerable to stress and distress than those from high castes, being more educated, and from small families.