Long-Term Follow-Up of Psychological Distress Following Earthquake Experiences Among Working Italian Males

This report details relationships between earthquake exposures in 1980 and 1983 to 1984 and psychological distress reported in 1994. Participants are 555 Italian male factory workers from Naples, Italy. Those men who experienced damage from the 1980 quake reported higher levels of psychological distress (across several dimensions of the Symptom Checklist) than those without damage; additionally, 30% of these men reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While men evacuated as a result of the 1983 to 1984 Bradyseism earthquakes did not report higher distress levels (Symptom Checklist) than their nonevacuated colleagues, they did report more PTSD-like symptoms than those not evacuated. Financial loss from the Bradyseism quakes was associated with higher distress across all measures (seven Symptom Checklist dimensions and presence of PTSD symptoms). Additionally, social network disruptions following 1983 to 1984 evacuation were associated with greater distress (not all measures). These findings suggest that psychological distress from natural disasters may be very long lasting.