STRESS AND COPING - THE LOMA-PRIETA EARTHQUAKE

This study examined the stress response, coping strategies, and behavi oral intentions of 185 subjects following the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Subjects completed a series of open ended questions about previous exp erience with earthquakes and their preparedness for previous and futur e earthquakes. The Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Symptom Checkli st, Version 90R (SCL-90R), were used to measure participants' subjecti ve stress response and symptoms of psychological distress at two days and either one week or three weeks following the earthquake. At one or three weeks, some subjects also completed the Coping Strategies Inven tory. This study describes the stress response in this earthquake popu lation and explores the relationship of the passage of time and past e xperiences with earthquakes to psychological distress following the ea rthquake. Coping strategies and behavioral intentions were also assess ed. Results indicated that, although stress levels were elevated at th e time of the initial testing, there were declines in reported stress as early as the one week follow-up session. Additionally, a number of gender differences were found in terms of the stress response to the e arthquake.