Social relations and PTSD symptoms: a prospective study on earthquake-impacted adolescents in Taiwan

J Trauma Stress. 2009 Oct;22(5):451-9. doi: 10.1002/jts.20447.

Abstract

This prospective longitudinal study examined two competing models, a traditional social support model and a supportive and detrimental social relations model, to clarify the association of PTSD symptoms with supportive and detrimental social relations. Seven-hundred five adolescents living near the epicenter of the Taiwan Chi-Chi Earthquake participated in the study. The models were evaluated and cross-validated using structural equation modeling. The supportive and detrimental social relations model appeared to be a better fit. After further evaluation of three nested versions of the supportive and detrimental social relations model, detrimental social relations was found to partially mediate the relationship between PTSD symptoms 1 and 2 years following the earthquake. The findings suggest that helping adolescents deal with detrimental social relations can contribute to postdisaster adjustment.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Disasters*
  • Earthquakes*
  • Education
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Likelihood Functions
  • Male
  • Models, Psychological
  • Parent-Child Relations
  • Peer Group
  • Prospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Social Support*
  • Sociometric Techniques
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / prevention & control
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology*
  • Taiwan / epidemiology