PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY FOLLOWING A NATURAL DISASTER - AN AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRE

This study investigated the prevalence of mental health problems after a major bushfire in Australia and examined the validity of the Genera l Health Questionnaire (GHQ) (Goldberg 1978) against the Anxiety, Affe ctive and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder modules of the Diagnostic Int erview Schedule (DIS; Robins et al. 1981). Study 1 was carried out 1:! months after the Ash Wednesday bushfires and sought to include all th e victims of the fires. Study 2 was conducted 20 months after the fire s and included a sample of victims who had experienced major losses in the fires. Twelve months after the fires, 42% (n = 1,526) of the vict ims were defined as a potential psychiatric case using the GHQ. This r ate indicated a significantly greater level of morbidity than found in communities that have not experienced a natural disaster. Twenty mont hs after the fires, 23% (n = 43) were defined as ''cases''. The 28-ite m GHQ was found to be a valid instrument for defining the presence of psychiatric disorder in a disaster-effected community. The findings de monstrated that lasting psychiatric morbidity is associated with natur al disasters.