Posttraumatic stress symptoms after exposure to two fire disasters: comparative study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Trauma Studies
• Burn Injury Research

Background:

• Traumatic stress symptoms are common in burn survivors.
• Disaster events can exacerbate stress responses in burn survivors.
• Understanding risk factors for acute and chronic stress is crucial for effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare traumatic stress symptoms in severely burned survivors of fire disasters versus non-disaster burn injuries.
• To identify risk factors associated with acute and chronic stress symptoms in these populations.
• To analyze stress trajectories over 24 months using latent growth modeling.

Main Methods:

• Latent growth modeling (LGM) analyses were employed.
• The Impact of Event Scale (IES) was administered to disaster survivors and non-disaster burn patients.
• Data were collected at multiple time points: 2 weeks, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post-event.

Main Results:

• Disaster survivors with severe burns exhibited more intense and prolonged initial traumatic stress symptoms compared to non-disaster burn survivors.
• Symptoms generally decreased over two years, except in one industrial fire group.
• Burn severity, peritraumatic anxiety, and dissociation predicted long-term negative outcomes specifically in the industrial fire group.

Conclusions:

• Fire disaster survivors face higher short-term traumatic stress.
• Long-term outcomes are influenced by post-disaster factors, not solely the initial event.
• Younger age, psychosocial aftercare, social support, and swift judicial procedures positively impacted recovery in one disaster cohort.