ArticlePsychological medicine2017
Post-traumatic stress disorder associated with natural and human-made disasters in the World Mental Health Surveys.
Article in Psychological medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 189 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of mental disorders in adult populations from the Global South following exposure to natural hazards: a meta-analysis.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder and associated factors among displaced people in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis on prevalence of and risk factors associated with depression, anxiety and insomnia in infectious diseases, including COVID-19: a call to action.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- National and regional prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The disaster worker resiliency training program: a randomized clinical trial.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2021Trial
- Prevalence and psychosocial factors of PTSD among disaster-affected populations in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of emergency medicine · 2026Review
- Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms among wildland firefighters and local residents in recurrent wildfire areas.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Compounding Disasters and Australian Youth Mental Health: A Time of Significant (di)stress.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Tropical Cyclone Exposure and Psychoactive Drug-Related Death Rates.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Assessing healthcare professional wellness during natural and man-made mass casualty incidents: a retrospective study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- "Breaking the bars of my prison of fear" a trauma- and resilience-informed photovoice model as a community intervention following a human-made collective disaster.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Unmasking deep-rooted trauma: long-term effects of childhood adversities on posttraumatic stress disorder in healthcare workers facing acute multi-trauma.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Unpacking Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mental Health in Internally Displaced Persons: A Mediation-Moderation Model of Psychological Capital and Perceived Social Support.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Examining the experiences of prehospital emergency workers in emergency medical intervention during terrorist attacks: a qualitative study.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025Article
- Anger and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Firefighters After a Firefighting Operation with Two Team Member Fatalities.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after Disaster and Mass-Casualty Incidents in Developed and Developing Countries: A Meta-Analysis Study.Iranian journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- Integration of Metabolomic and Brain Imaging Data Highlights Pleiotropy Among Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Glycoprotein Acetyls, and Pallidum Structure.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Natural Disasters, Psychosocial Distress, Psychological Flexibility, and Satisfaction with Life.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Stress dynamics that maintain posttraumatic stress disorder across 20 years.Psychological medicine · 2025Article
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
25 authors at 20 institutions in 14 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundResearch on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following natural and human-made disasters has been undertaken for more than three decades. Although PTSD prevalence estimates vary widely, most are in the 20-40% range in disaster-focused studies but considerably lower (3-5%) in the few general population epidemiological surveys that evaluated disaster-related PTSD as part of a broader clinical assessment. The World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys provide an opportunity to examine disaster-related PTSD in representative general population surveys across a much wider range of sites than in previous studies.
methodAlthough disaster-related PTSD was evaluated in 18 WMH surveys, only six in high-income countries had enough respondents for a risk factor analysis. Predictors considered were socio-demographics, disaster characteristics, and pre-disaster vulnerability factors (childhood family adversities, prior traumatic experiences, and prior mental disorders).
resultsDisaster-related PTSD prevalence was 0.0-3.8% among adult (ages 18+) WMH respondents and was significantly related to high education, serious injury or death of someone close, forced displacement from home, and pre-existing vulnerabilities (prior childhood family adversities, other traumas, and mental disorders). Of PTSD cases 44.5% were among the 5% of respondents classified by the model as having highest PTSD risk.
conclusionDisaster-related PTSD is uncommon in high-income WMH countries. Risk factors are consistent with prior research: severity of exposure, history of prior stress exposure, and pre-existing mental disorders. The high concentration of PTSD among respondents with high predicted risk in our model supports the focus of screening assessments that identify disaster survivors most in need of preventive interventions.
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