Medical Student Reactions to Disaster after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake: Motivation and Posttraumatic Growth.
Medical students often become involved as post-disaster emergency responders despite incomplete training, and in doing so may suppress their immediate experiences as victims and survivors. This experience, however, may lead them to increase their motivation to help others. We examined how cognitive and emotional reactions to disaster correlated with posttraumatic growth (PTG) in medical students in Fukushima, Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. To date, Fukushima continues to suffer from radiation concerns following the nuclear power plant meltdown. In a survey three years after the onset of a long-term disaster, with a cross-sectional research design, medical students (N = 494) reported their negative post-disaster reactions, desire to help, and demonstrations of capability, and completed the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). We conducted hierarchical regression analyses and found that the addition of variables pertaining to negative post-disaster reactions (e.g. confusion, anger, and sadness) led to the largest increase in predictive value for PTGI scores; students reporting a past traumatic experience were also more likely to experience PTG. Our results indicate that weathering stressful disaster circumstances created opportunities for positive personal growth and reinforcement at a crucial time in medical students' professional development.
['Taku|Kanako|K|0000-0003-1515-7951', 'Prioleau|Phoebe G|PG|', 'Anderson|David S|DS|', 'Takeguchi|Yuzo|Y|', 'Sekine|Hideharu|H|', 'Maeda|Masaharu|M|', 'Yabe|Hirooki|H|', 'Yanagisawa|Robert T|RT|', 'Katz|Craig L|CL|']
D000328:Adult D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D004190:Disasters D055866:Earthquakes D004644:Emotions D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007564:Japan D008297:Male D000078002:Posttraumatic Growth, Psychological D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic D013337:Students, Medical D055815:Young Adult
Disaster Posttraumatic growth Etiology/risk and protective factors PTSD phenomenology Resilience