The long-term psychological effects of a disaster experienced in adolescence: II: General psychopathology

Children and adolescents exposed to trauma can suffer major adverse psychol ogical effects including not only post-traumatic stress but also other psyc hological disorders. This study investigates the long-term course of genera l psychopathology following trauma in adolescence using a standardised diag nostic interview and comparisons with a matched control group. Young people (N = 216) who as teenagers had survived a shipping disaster-the sinking of the "Jupiter" in Greek waters-between 5 and 8 years previously and 87 youn g people as matched controls were interviewed. The survivors showed raised rates of diagnosis in a range of anxiety and affective disorders during the follow-up period. The highest rates were among the survivors who had devel oped Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and those survivors who had not were generally similar to the controls. Onset of anxiety and affective dis orders varied between being indefinitely close to the disaster to years lat er. Differences in rates of disorder between the survivor and control group s had lessened by the time of follow-up but were still apparent, due to con tinuing distress among the survivors still suffering from PTSD, and to a le sser extent among those who had recovered from PTSD. Generalisability of th e findings are discussed.