Abstract
Objective: To explore the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in flood victim parents and children in Hunan, China.
Methods: Using the method of multistage cluster random sampling, we conducted a retrospective investigation on 3,698 families in Hunan, China who suffered from flooding in 1998. Investigators held face-to-face interviews with the parents and children of the families. The diagnosis of PTSD was made according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition. The comparison of rate of PTSD positive in the groups of children with different characteristics was done by chi-square test. In the evaluation of the impact of parent PTSD on PTSD in their children, we used a multivariable logistic regression model to re-estimate the adjusted Odds Ratio and its confidence interval. We did this after the possible confounding variables were adjusted for. Additionally, the Odds Ratio and its confidence interval were estimated under the condition of a single variable.
Results: A total of 4,327 children and the parents of 3,292 families were included for analysis; 203 (4.7%) of 4,327 children and 740 (11.2%) of 6,584 parents were diagnosed with PTSD. We found that the PTSD positive rate is significantly higher in the children with disaster-related experience. The rate of beating their children in PTSD positive fathers (54.9%) was higher than that of PTSD negative fathers (51.2%). No correlation was found between mothers’ PTSD and beating their children. The risk of developing PTSD is higher for children living in the families with PTSD parents.
Conclusion: The rate of PTSD in 7–14-year-old children is 4.7% in areas in Hunan, China, who suffered from flooding in 1998. The possibility for children to develop PTSD is increased in families with PTSD parents.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the China Medical Board in the USA (Grant#98-689). The author Xin Huang was supported by the China Scholarship Council. We thank Linbao Zhang (CDC Director, Yiyang city), Xiumin Zhang (CDC Director, Anxiang county), Huaxian He (CDC Director, Yueyang city), Linlin Li (CDC Director, Xiangxi autonomy city) and Senlin Tang (CDC Director, Datong Lake district) for their cooperation. Special thanks to Dr Richard M. Reznick for revising the manuscript.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.