Abstract
This paper summarises the major findings from the Quake Impact Study (QIS), a four-phase longitudinal project that was conducted in the aftermath of the 1989 Newcastle (Australia) earthquake. A total of 3,484 subjects participated in at least one component of the QIS, comprising a stratified sample of 3,007 drawn from community electoral rolls and 477 from specially targeted supplementary samples 9the injured, the displaced, the owners of damaged businesses, and the helpers). Subjects' initial earthquake experiences were rated in terms of weighted indices of exposure to threat and disruption. Psychological morbidity was measured at each phase using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES). Selected findings and key conclusions are presented for each of six areas of investigation: service utilisation during the first 6 months post-disaster; patterns of earthquake experience and short-term (6-month) psychosocial outcome; earthquake exposure and medium term (2-year) psychosocial outcome; vulnerability factors and medium-term psychosocial outcome; specific community groups at increased risk (e.g., the elderly and immigrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds); the effects of stress debriefing for helpers. Threshold morbidity (i.e., likely caseness) rates are also presented for a broad range of subgroups. In addition to presenting an overview of the QIS, this paper synthesises the major findings and discusses their implications for future disaster management and research from a mental health perspective.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Green BL (1982) Assessing levels of psychological impairment following disaster: consideration of actual and methodological dimensions. J Nerv Ment Dis 170: 544–552
McFarlane AC (1984) The Ash Wednesday bushfires in South Australia: implications for planning for future post-disaster services. Med J Aust 141: 286–291
Figley CR (ed) (1985) Trauma and its wake: the study and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Brunner/Mazel, New York
Horowitz M (1985) Disasters and psychological responses to stress. Psychiatr Ann 15: 161–167
Raphael B (1986) When disaster strikes: how individuals and communities cope with catastrophe. Basic Books, New York
Shore JH, Tatum EL, Vollmer WM (1986) Evaluation of the mental effects of disaster, Mount St. Helens eruption. Am J Public Health 76 Suppl: 76–83
Shore JH, Tatum EL, Vollmer WM (1986) Psychiatric reactions to disaster: the Mount St. Helens experience. Am J Psychiatry 143: 590–595
McFarlane AC (1988) The aetiology of post-traumatic stress disorders following a natural disaster. Br J Psychiatry 152: 116–121
McFarlane AC (1988) Relationships between psychiatric impairment and a natural disaster: the role of distress. Psychol Med 18: 129–139
Gist R, Lubin B (eds) (1989) Psychosocial aspects of disaster. Wiley, New York
Canino G, Bravo M, Rubio-Stipec M, Woodbury M (1990) The impact of disaster on mental health: prospective and retrospective analyses. Int J Ment Health 19: 51–69
Green BL (1985) Conceptual and methodological issues in assessing the psychological impact of disaster. In: Sowder BJ (ed) Disasters and mental health: selected contemporary perspectives. Centre for Mental Health Studies of Emergencies, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, pp 179–195
Green BL, Grace MC, Glesser GC (1985) Identifying survivors at risk: longterm impairment following the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. J Consult Clin Psychol 53: 672–678
Raphael B, Lundin T, Weisaeth L (1989) A research method for the study of psychological and psychiatric aspects of disaster. Acta Psychiatr Scand 80 Suppl 353: 1–75
Green BL (1991) Evaluating the effects of disasters. Psychol Assess J Consult Clin Psychol 3: 538–546
Carr VJ, Lewin TJ, Carter GL, Webster RA (1992) Patterns of service utilisation following the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: findings from Phase 1 of the Quake Impact Study. Aust J Public Health 16: 360–369
Webster RA, Lewin TJ (1993) Pre-traumatic stress disorder? In: Carr VJ (ed) The spectrum of traumatic stress: proceedings of the inaugural Lingard symposium. Hunter Institute of Mental Health, Newcastle, pp 27–30
Carr VJ (1993) Non-traumatic stress disorder. In: Carr VJ (ed) The spectrum of traumatic stress: proceedings of the inaugural Lingard symposium. Hunter Institute of Mental Health, Newcastle, pp 31–38
Kenardy JA, Webster RA (1993) Does stress debriefing work? In: Carr VJ (ed) The spectrum of traumatic stress: proceedings of the inaugural Lingard symposium. Hunter Institute of Mental Health, Newcastle, pp 39–44
Webster RA, McDonald R, Lewin TJ, Carr VJ (1995) Effects of a natural disaster on immigrants and host population. J Nerv Ment Dis 183: 390–397
Carr VJ, Lewin TJ, Webster RA, Hazell PL, Kenardy JA, Carter GL (1995) Psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: I. Community disaster experiences and psychological morbidity 6 months post-disaster. Psychol Med 25: 539–555
Kenardy JA, Webster RA, Lewin TJ, Carr VJ, Hazell PL, Carter GL (1996) Stress debriefing and patterns of recovery following a natural disaster. J Trauma Stress 9: 37–49
Ticehurst S, Webster RA, Carr VJ, Lewin TJ (1996) The psychosocial impact of an earthquake on the elderly. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry (in press)
Carr VJ, Lewin TJ, Webster RA, Kenardy JA, Hazell PL, Carter GL (1997) Psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: II. Exposure and morbidity profiles during the first 2 years post-disaster. Psychol Med (in press)
Carr VJ, Lewin TJ, Kenardy JA, Webster RA, Hazell PL, Carter GL, Williamson M (1997) Psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: III. Role of vulnerability factors in post-disaster morbidity. Psychol Med (in press)
Drinkwater JA (1993) Psychiatric morbidity in adults dislocated from their homes in the aftermath of the Newcastle earthquake. Master of Psychology (Clinical) thesis, University of Newcastle (Auchmuty library, thesis: 1501), Australia
Taylor JM (1993) Psychiatric disorders in a group of adults physically injured during the Newcastle earthquake. Master of Psychology (Clinical) thesis, University of Newcastle (Auch muty library, thesis: 1515), Australia
Lord M (1990) The relationship between the fears of parents and children: the Newcastle earthquake. Honours thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia
Webster RA (In preparation) Post-traumatic stress reactions following an earthquake: A cognitive processing model of PTSD. PhD thesis, University of Newcastle, Australia
Goldberg DP (1972) The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire. Oxford University Press, London
Horowitz M, Wilner N, Alvarez W (1979) The Impact of Event Scale: a measure of subjective stress. Psychosom Med 41: 209–218
Tucker MB (1982) Social support and coping: applications for the study of female drug abuse. J Soc Issues 38: 117–137
Billings AG, Moos RH (1981) The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events. J Behav Med 4: 139–157
Derogatis L (1977) SCL-90-R version: manual-I. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Beck AT, Rial WY, Rickels K (1974) Short form of depression inventory: cross validation. Psychol Rep 34: 1184–1196
Singh B, Lewin T, Raphael B, Johnson P, Walton J (1987) Minor psychiatric morbidity in a casualty population: identification, attempted intervention and six month follow-up. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 21: 231–240
Duncan-Jones P (1983) Short stable measures of extraversion and neuroticism for the Australian general population. NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Australian National University, Canberra
Nunn KP, Lewin TJ, Walton JM, Carr VJ (1996) The construction and characteristics of an instrument to measure personal hopefulness. Psychol Med 26: 531–545
Andrews G, Pollock C, Stewart G (1989) The determinants of defense style by questionnaire. Arch Gen Psychiatry 64: 455–460
Andrews G, Singh M, Bond M (1993) The Defense Style Questionnaire. J Nerv Ment Dis 181: 246–256
Dixon WJ, Brown MB, Engelman L, Hill MA, Jennrich RI (eds) (1988) BMDP statistical software manual, vol 1 and 2. University of California Press, Los Angeles
Foa EB, Steketee G, Rothbaum BO (1989) Behavioural/cognitive conceptualizations of post-traumatic stress disorder. Behav Ther 20: 155–176
Weisaeth L (1989) A study of behavioural responses to an industrial disaster. Acta Psychiatr Scand [Suppl] 355: 13–24
Dennerstein L, Astbury J, Morse C (1993) Psychosocial and mental health aspects of women's health. World Health Organization, Geneva
Desjarlis R, Eisenberg L, Good B, Kleinman A (1995) World mental health: Problems and priorities in low-income countries. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 179–206
Deahl MP, Gillham AB, Thomas J, Searle MM, Srinivasan M (1994) Psychological sequelae following the Gulf War. Factors associated with subsequent morbidity and the effectiveness of psychological debriefing. Br J Psychiatry 165: 6–65
Robinson RC, Mitchell JT (1995) Getting some balance back into the debriefing debate. Bull Aus Psychol Soc 17: 5–10
Kenardy JA, Carr V (1996) Imbalance in the debriefing debate: what we don't know far outweighs what we do. Bull Aust Psychol Soc 18: 4–6
Creamer M, Burgess P, Buckingham W, Pattison P (1989) The psychological aftermath of the Queen Street shootings. Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne
Shiraev N, Armstrong M (eds) (1978) Health care survey of Gosford-Wyong and Illawarra. Division of Health Services Research Report No. 77/9. Health Commission of New South Wales, Sydney
Di Nardo PA, Barlow DH (1988) Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule — Revised (ADIS-R). Centre for Stress and Anxiety Disorders, State University of New York, Albany
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carr, V.J., Lewin, T.J., Webster, R.A. et al. A synthesis of the findings from the Quake Impact Study: a two-year investigation of the psychosocial sequelae of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 32, 123–136 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00794611
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00794611