EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN DISASTER VICTIMS - A FOLLOW-UP-STUDY

One hundred thirteen adult victims of a major Latin American disaster were screened for emotional distress 1 and 5 years after the catastrop he, We used the Self-Reporting Questionnaire to identify emotionally d istressed victims. Results indicate that the prevalence of emotional d istress decreased from 65% in 1986 to 31% in 1990. However, a comparis on of the symptomatology on these two assessments indicates a similari ty in the frequency and profiles of symptoms among the distressed. Als o, the most frequent symptoms and the strongest predictors of emotiona l distress were essentially the same. These findings provide empirical support to the clinically observed course of emotional symptomatology of disaster victims and to the focused training of health workers on selected emotional problems that are consistently present over time.