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The Effects of Natural Disasters, Man-Made Disasters, and Incidents of Mass Trauma on Mental Health

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 12979

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Vincent Israel Opoku Agyapong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 2E2, Canada
Interests: disaster mental health; global mental health; post traumatic stress disorder
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Raquel da Luz Dias

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS B3J 2R8, Canada
Interests: global mental health; e-mental health
Dr. Ejemai Eboreime

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2B7, Canada
Interests: implementation science; global mental health; e-mental health; health policy & systems research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural disasters, man-made disasters, and incidents of mass trauma exert a tremendous mental health burden on impacted individuals and communities. Disasters such as wildfires, flooding, war, terrorism, pandemics, and nuclear disasters lead to displacement, with direct consequences such as loss of livelihood or property, or sometimes death. Health conditions such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and alcohol and substance use disorder have also been linked to natural and man-made disasters.

For this Special Issue, we seek articles which explore all aspects of the association between natural disasters, man-made disasters, and incidents of mass trauma and mental health. Prevalence studies, cross-sectional studies, scoping reviews, systematic reviews, and metanalyses that explore the long-term mental-health effects of disasters are particularly welcome.

Prof. Dr. Vincent Israel Opoku Agyapong
Dr. Raquel da Luz Dias
Dr. Ejemai Eboreime
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • disasters
  • trauma
  • PTSD
  • anxiety
  • depression

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 940 KiB  
Article
Nuclear Anxiety Amid the Russian-Ukrainian War 2022 (RUW-22): Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study
by Abanoub Riad, Anton Drobov, Muhammad Abdullatif Alkasaby, Aleš Peřina and Michal Koščík
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 3551; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043551 - 17 Feb 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2326
Abstract
Nuclear anxiety, which refers to the fear of nuclear war and its consequences, is expected to increase amid the Russian–Ukrainian War of 2022 (RUW-22). This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of nuclear anxiety and its associated variables among university students in the [...] Read more.
Nuclear anxiety, which refers to the fear of nuclear war and its consequences, is expected to increase amid the Russian–Ukrainian War of 2022 (RUW-22). This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of nuclear anxiety and its associated variables among university students in the Czech Republic during the first weeks of RUW-22. A cross-sectional survey-based study was carried out from March–April 2022, utilizing a digital self-administered questionnaire (SAQ) to collect data from the target population. The SAQ consisted of multiple-choice items inquiring about demographic characteristics; generalized anxiety symptoms using generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7); depressive symptoms using patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9); and attitudes towards civilian uses of nuclear power, and nuclear war-related anxiety. Of the 591 participating students, 67.7% were females, 68.2% were Czech nationals, and 61.8% followed the RUW-22 news at least once daily. The mean GAD-7 score of our participants was 7.86 ± 5.32 (0–21); and their mean PHQ-9 score was 8.66 ± 6.29 (0–27). Regarding the civilian uses of nuclear power, most participants agreed that nuclear power was safe (64.5%), denied being afraid that civilian use of nuclear power might deteriorate their health (79.7%), and thought that public acceptance was important for building new nuclear power plants (56.9%). About 42.1% and 45.5% of the participants reported feeling depressed at the possibility of nuclear war and agreed that the chances that there would be a nuclear war in their lifetime were very high, respectively. When asked about their preparedness measures during the previous four weeks, less than one quarter (23.9%) reported looking for recommendations for protection against nuclear accidents, and less than one-fifth (19.3%) were looking for the nearest bomb shelter. The depression about nuclear war possibility was positively and relatively strongly correlated with the level of “feeling concerned about the RUW-22” (rs = 0.401), and it was moderately correlated with GAD-7 (rs = 0.377) and PHQ-9 (rs = 0.274) scores and weakly correlated with RUW-2-related news-following frequency (rs = 0.196). Within the limitations of the present study, nuclear anxiety was common among Czech university students. Its associated factors may include but are not limited to the female gender; common psychological disorders such as generalized anxiety and depression; RUW-22-related news following-frequency; and the level of “feeling concerned”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Natural Disasters, Man-Made Disasters, and Incidents of Mass Trauma on Mental Health)
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14 pages, 1211 KiB  
Article
Mental Health Burden of the Russian–Ukrainian War 2022 (RUW-22): Anxiety and Depression Levels among Young Adults in Central Europe
by Abanoub Riad, Anton Drobov, Martin Krobot, Natália Antalová, Muhammad Abdullatif Alkasaby, Aleš Peřina and Michal Koščík
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(14), 8418; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148418 - 9 Jul 2022
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 7550
Abstract
Armed conflicts are public health emergencies that affect human lives at multiple levels. The mental health of adolescents and young adults is at high risk during crisis settings; therefore, this cross-sectional survey-based study aimed to evaluate anxiety and depressive symptoms among university students [...] Read more.
Armed conflicts are public health emergencies that affect human lives at multiple levels. The mental health of adolescents and young adults is at high risk during crisis settings; therefore, this cross-sectional survey-based study aimed to evaluate anxiety and depressive symptoms among university students in the Czech Republic following the Russian-Ukrainian war of 2022 (RUW-22). The study used standardized screening instruments; the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) for anxiety and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depression. Of 591 students who participated in this study, 67.7% were females, 68.2% held Czech citizenship, and 63.8% were enrolled in medical or healthcare programs. The participants were highly concerned about the RUW-22 news, with a mean score of 7.17 ± 2.50 (0–10). While 34% and 40.7% of the participants in this study manifested moderate to severe levels of anxiety and depression, respectively, the mental health burden of the RUW-22 was confirmed by the positive correlation between “feeling concerned”, GAD-7 (ρ = 0.454), and PHQ-9 (ρ = 0.326). Female gender, higher frequency of news following, and social media use were associated with higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms; thus, proposing them to be risk factors for psychological disorders following the RUW-22. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Natural Disasters, Man-Made Disasters, and Incidents of Mass Trauma on Mental Health)
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15 pages, 364 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Prevalence and Predictors of Moderate to Severe Depression in Fort McMurray, Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Gloria Obuobi-Donkor, Ejemai Eboreime, Reham Shalaby, Belinda Agyapong, Folajinmi Oluwasina, Medard Adu, Ernest Owusu, Wanying Mao and Vincent I. O. Agyapong
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(12), 7090; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127090 - 9 Jun 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1824
Abstract
Background: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has produced adverse health consequences, including mental health consequences. Studies indicate that residents of Fort McMurray, a community which has experienced trauma from flooding and wildfires in the past, may be more vulnerable to the mental health [...] Read more.
Background: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has produced adverse health consequences, including mental health consequences. Studies indicate that residents of Fort McMurray, a community which has experienced trauma from flooding and wildfires in the past, may be more vulnerable to the mental health effects of the pandemic. Objective: This study aimed to examine the prevalence and predictors of likely Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) among residents of Fort McMurray during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional approach was adopted utilizing an online survey questionnaire to gather sociodemographic data, COVID-19 related data, and clinical information, including likely MDD using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale, from the residents of Fort McMurray between the period of 24 April to 2 June 2021. Results: Overall, 186 individuals completed the survey out of 249 residents who accessed the online survey, yielding a completion rate of 74.7%. The prevalence of likely MDD among respondents was 45%. Respondents willing to receive mental health counselling were five times more likely to experience MDD during the COVID-19 pandemic (OR = 5.48; 95% CI: 1.95–15.40). Respondents with a history of depression were nearly five folds more likely to report MDD during the era of the pandemic than residents without a history of depression (OR = 4.64; 95% CI: 1.49–14.44). Similarly, respondents with a history of taking hypnotics (sleeping tablets) were nearly six-fold more likely to express MDD than respondents with no history of receiving sleeping tablets (OR = 5.72; 95% CI: 1.08–30.30). Finally, respondents who reported receiving only partial support from the employer had three times higher odds of having likely MDD than those who received absolute support from the employer (OR = 3.50; 95% CI: 1.24–9.82). Conclusion: In addition to the effect of the pandemic and other measures taken to curb the psychopathological impact of the pandemic, policymakers need to implement policies to manage individuals with preexisting mental health conditions and provide strong employer support. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Natural Disasters, Man-Made Disasters, and Incidents of Mass Trauma on Mental Health)
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