Psychological Sequelae of the 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan Among Survivor-Responders.

OBJECTIVE: Super Typhoon Haiyan (known as Yolanda in the Philippines), one of the strongest tropical cyclones recorded in history, made landfall in the Philippines in November 2013. This cross-sectional study examined the psychological impact of the typhoon and its aftermath, as well as the impact of individual typhoon-related stressors among a group of survivor-responders.

METHOD: A total of 192 Filipino adult survivors who were also disaster-relief responders and 45 unaffected disaster-relief responders (N = 237) completed a questionnaire that assessed their general psychological distress (GPD), symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTS), and disaster experiences 1.5 to 4 months after the event.

RESULTS: The disaster-exposed group was more distressed and suffered from more symptoms of PTS, but the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was not statistically different between the two groups (7.9% versus 9.4%). Regression analysis revealed that financial instability (β = .52), physical injury (β = .21), and perceived life threat (β = .17) were associated with GPD. Physical injury (β = .20) and perceived life threat (β = .20) were also associated with PTS symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS: Although a marked difference in PTSD was not noted, the psychological impact of Super Typhoon Haiyan on survivor-responders in terms of nonspecific psychological distress and symptoms of PTS was considerable. Some typhoon-related stressors, including financial instability, physical injury, and perceived life threat, appear to be more detrimental to mental health than other stressors.