00317550

open access

Version of Record

ハンシン アワジ ダイシンサイ ガ ボシ ノ シンシン ニ オヨボシタ エイキョウ ト ソノ ジカンテキ スイイ

The Psychological Reactions of Small Children and their Mothers Following the Hanshin-Awaji Disaster

Japanese (日本語)

神戸大学都市安全研究センター研究報告

3

331-346

神戸大学都市安全研究センター

1999-03

2007-04-10

Disasters have a strong psychological impact even on small children. They are unable to nuderstand the actual nature of the disaster, and their own ability to cope with the situation is limited. As a result, they feel extreme anxiety. In Japan, PTSD in small children had not been noticed until the Hanshin-Awaji Disaster, which oceurcd in 1995. We conductcd a large scale survey in Hyogo Prefecture in order to know the psychological effects of the disaster on small children and their mothers in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Between May and June in 1996, we studied 8150 families with pre-scliool aged children in Hyogo and 2072 families with pre-school aged children in Yokohama using the original questionaires, which include 5 items related to the trauma events, 22 items related to symptoms of children, 7 items related to symptoms of mothers, and 7 items related to parenting stress. The answers were recorded based on the observations of the children!s own mothers. The result of the survey obtained in 1996 was as follows: 1) The symptoms related to PTSD, such as 'fear pf dark place', inability sleep alone', and 'startled by small sound' etc, were found more frequently in the small children whose houses had been severely damaged. 2) The relation between the symptoms and the extend of house damage was even more distinctly observed in their mothers. In order to know these symptoms changed over time, follow up surveys were conducted using the same questionairen 1997 for 7639 families and in 1998 for 7690 families with pre-school aged children．Although the frequency decreased year by year, the symptomns related to PTSD were still found more frequently in the children and their mothers whose houses had been severely damaged. There is a possibility that the symptoms in children might be influenced by the psychological states of their own mothers. When providing psychological support for children, it should be kept in mind that children's symptoms often reflect the psychological state of the mothers. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a stable environment in which the mother can raise the child.

紀要論文