The Aetiology of Post-traumatic Stress Disorders Following a Natural Disaster

Abstract

The onset of post-traumatic stress disorders in a group of firefighters who had an intense exposure to a bushfire disaster was investigated using a longitudinal research design. Contrary to expectation, the intensity of exposure, the perceived threat, and the losses sustained in the disaster, when considered independently, were not predictors of post traumatic stress disorder. By contrast, introversion, neuroticism, and a past history and family history of psychiatric disorder were premorbid factors significantly associated with the development of chronic post-traumatic stress disorders.