Abstract:

Objective    To  study the mental health status of victims in Mianyang and Beichuan areas 1.5 years after the Wenchuan Earthquake and to explore its correlation with the Five-Pattern Personality. Methods    The Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and the Five-Pattern Personality Questionnaire  were used to investigate 480 victims in these areas. Results     Cases with SCL-90 total score≥160 (screen positive) accounted for 21.2% of the surveyed population. There were significant differences between victims and the norm in scale scores  for seven factors on SCL-90, such as somatization and compulsion (P<0.01). Except for somatization, the other factors examined had significantly lower scores than those  reported during the early months of the disaster (P<0.001). The mental health status of the rural cases was  inferior to that of the urban cases (P<0.01). Among different age groups, however, there were no significant differences in both the SCL-90 total scores and the individual factor scores  (P>0.05). ConclusionThe mental health status of victims 1.5 years after the earthquake  has shown some major improvements, but  the recovery was not so advanced because the country′s norm  victims in  rural areas  were not doing as well as those in  urban areas. There were significant differences among the different personalities， especially between personalities of  Shao Yang and Tai Yang. Psychological health in earthquake-stricken areas still needs attention.

Key words: Wenchuan Earthquake; Victims; Mental health; Five-Pattern Personality