IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v151y2016icp187-195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do community- and individual-level social relationships contribute to the mental health of disaster survivors?: A multilevel prospective study after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Author

Listed:
  • Matsuyama, Yusuke
  • Aida, Jun
  • Hase, Akihiro
  • Sato, Yukihiro
  • Koyama, Shihoko
  • Tsuboya, Toru
  • Osaka, Ken

Abstract

Disasters greatly threaten the health and lives of people all over the world. Japan experienced severe damage following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and some survivors continue to live in prefabricated temporary housing, built collectively in damaged areas. Previous studies have shown that social relationships in such communities have the potential to protect the mental health of disaster survivors. We examined the association between survivors' social support and social participation in 2012 and their psychological distress in 2013 using the K6 scale. Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to all 15,979 households in prefabricated temporary housing in eight municipalities in Miyagi prefecture in 2012, and 19,284 adults from 9366 (58.6%) households responded. One year later, 10,880 adults responded to a follow-up survey. Multivariate multilevel linear regression analyses with multiply imputed datasets showed that survivors' psychological distress at follow-up significantly differed between communities (community-level variance [standard error] = 0.38 [0.13]). The variance was reduced to 0.25 [0.09] after considering individual demographic characteristics and psychological distress at baseline. Individual- and community-level social relationships of 7.1% and 15.8%, respectively, explained the difference. After adjusting for covariates including K6 scale at baseline, individual-level social support, community-level social support, and individual-level social participation were significantly associated with low psychological distress at follow-up (coefficients [95% confidence intervals] were: −0.54 [−0.79, −0.30]; −0.43 [−0.72, −0.14]; and −0.22 [−0.40, −0.04], respectively). Community-level social participation was not significantly associated with psychological distress. The present study showed that: 1) survivors' psychological distress varied between temporary housing communities in 2013; 2) individual- and community-level social relationships contributed to the difference; and 3) individual- and community-level social relationships in 2012 were protectively associated with survivors' psychological distress in 2013. Promoting social relationships in communities after disasters might decrease disaster survivors' psychological distress.

Suggested Citation

  • Matsuyama, Yusuke & Aida, Jun & Hase, Akihiro & Sato, Yukihiro & Koyama, Shihoko & Tsuboya, Toru & Osaka, Ken, 2016. "Do community- and individual-level social relationships contribute to the mental health of disaster survivors?: A multilevel prospective study after the Great East Japan Earthquake," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 187-195.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:151:y:2016:i:c:p:187-195
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953616300089
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Aldrich, 2011. "The power of people: social capital’s role in recovery from the 1995 Kobe earthquake," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 56(3), pages 595-611, March.
    2. Seplaki, Christopher L. & Goldman, Noreen & Weinstein, Maxine & Lin, Yu-Hsuan, 2006. "Before and after the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake: Traumatic events and depressive symptoms in an older population," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 3121-3132, June.
    3. Tampubolon, Gindo & Hanandita, Wulung, 2014. "Poverty and mental health in Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 20-27.
    4. Han, Sehee, 2013. "Compositional and contextual associations of social capital and self-rated health in Seoul, South Korea: A multilevel analysis of longitudinal evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 113-120.
    5. Wind, Tim R. & Komproe, Ivan H., 2012. "The mechanisms that associate community social capital with post-disaster mental health: A multilevel model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1715-1720.
    6. Suzuki, Etsuji & Takao, Soshi & Subramanian, S.V. & Komatsu, Hirokazu & Doi, Hiroyuki & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2010. "Does low workplace social capital have detrimental effect on workers' health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1367-1372, May.
    7. Ichida, Yukinobu & Hirai, Hiroshi & Kondo, Katsunori & Kawachi, Ichiro & Takeda, Tokunori & Endo, Hideki, 2013. "Does social participation improve self-rated health in the older population? A quasi-experimental intervention study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 83-90.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ai Tashiro & Kayako Sakisaka & Yuri Kinoshita & Kanako Sato & Sakiko Hamanaka & Yoshiharu Fukuda, 2020. "Motivation for and Effect of Cooking Class Participation: A Cross-Sectional Study Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Jimpei Misawa & Rie Ichikawa & Akiko Shibuya & Yukihiro Maeda & Teruyoshi Hishiki & Yoshiaki Kondo, 2018. "The prevalence of mental distress before the Great East Japan Earthquake and the associated impact of an aged society: An ecological study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Jose, Rupa & Holman, E. Alison & Silver, Roxane Cohen, 2019. "Community organizations and mental health after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 367-376.
    4. Naru Fukuchi & Shusaku Chiba, 2022. "Utilization of Mental Health Support Systems in the Aftermath of Disasters in Japan: Statistical Data of the Miyagi Disaster Mental Health Care Center," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Hye-Yun Ko & Seung-Hun Ryu & Min-Joo Lee & Hun-Ju Lee & Soo-Young Kwon & Seong-Mi Kim & Sang-Min Lee, 2021. "Exploring Socio-Demographic Factors Affecting Psychological Symptoms in Humidifier Disinfectant Survivors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-11, November.
    6. Maria M. Laurito & Elizabeth Frankenberg & Duncan Thomas, 2022. "Effects of Housing Aid on Psychosocial Health after a Disaster," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-18, June.
    7. Murakami, Aya & Sugawara, Yumi & Tomata, Yasutake & Sugiyama, Kemmyo & Kaiho, Yu & Tanji, Fumiya & Tsuji, Ichiro, 2017. "Association between housing type and γ-GTP increase after the Great East Japan Earthquake," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 76-85.
    8. Gallagher, H. Colin & Block, Karen & Gibbs, Lisa & Forbes, David & Lusher, Dean & Molyneaux, Robyn & Richardson, John & Pattison, Philippa & MacDougall, Colin & Bryant, Richard A., 2019. "The effect of group involvement on post-disaster mental health: A longitudinal multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 167-175.
    9. Nobuaki Moriyama & Yoshitaka Nishikawa & Wataru Hoshi & Tomomi Kuga & Hajime Iwasa & Tomoo Murayama & Tatsuya Itagaki & Yuta Saito & Seiji Yasumura, 2021. "Association of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Physical Function, and Mental Health among Older Returnees after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-10, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gallagher, H. Colin & Block, Karen & Gibbs, Lisa & Forbes, David & Lusher, Dean & Molyneaux, Robyn & Richardson, John & Pattison, Philippa & MacDougall, Colin & Bryant, Richard A., 2019. "The effect of group involvement on post-disaster mental health: A longitudinal multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 167-175.
    2. Kawachi, Ichiro & Subramanian, S.V., 2018. "Social epidemiology for the 21st century," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 240-245.
    3. Verduin, Femke & Smid, Geert E. & Wind, Tim R. & Scholte, Willem F., 2014. "In search of links between social capital, mental health and sociotherapy: A longitudinal study in Rwanda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 1-9.
    4. Sannabe, Atsushi & Aida, Jun & Wada, Yuri & Ichida, Yukinobu & Kondo, Katsunori & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2020. "On the direct and indirect effects of the Great East Japan earthquake on self rated health through social connections: Mediation analysis," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    5. Hanibuchi, Tomoya & Murata, Yohei & Ichida, Yukinobu & Hirai, Hiroshi & Kawachi, Ichiro & Kondo, Katsunori, 2012. "Place-specific constructs of social capital and their possible associations to health: A Japanese case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 225-232.
    6. Aparna Kumari & Tim G. Frazier, 2021. "Evaluating social capital in emergency and disaster management and hazards plans," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(1), pages 949-973, October.
    7. Yukari Yokoyama & Kotaro Otsuka & Norito Kawakami & Seiichiro Kobayashi & Akira Ogawa & Kozo Tannno & Toshiyuki Onoda & Yumi Yaegashi & Kiyomi Sakata, 2014. "Mental Health and Related Factors after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-10, July.
    8. Eiji Yamamura, 2011. "Differences in the effect of social capital on health status between workers and non-workers," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 58(4), pages 385-400, December.
    9. Gizelis, Theodora-Ismene & Karim, Sabrina & Østby, Gudrun & Urdal, Henrik, 2017. "Maternal Health Care in the Time of Ebola: A Mixed-Method Exploration of the Impact of the Epidemic on Delivery Services in Monrovia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 169-178.
    10. Ying Wang & Hao Chen & Juan Li, 2012. "Factors affecting earthquake recovery: the Yao’an earthquake of China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 64(1), pages 37-53, October.
    11. Inaba, Yoji & Wada, Yuri & Ichida, Yukinobu & Nishikawa, Masashi, 2015. "Which part of community social capital is related to life satisfaction and self-rated health? A multilevel analysis based on a nationwide mail survey in Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 169-182.
    12. William duPont IV & Ilan Noy, 2015. "What Happened to Kobe? A Reassessment of the Impact of the 1995 Earthquake in Japan," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(4), pages 777-812.
    13. Satoru Kanamori & Yuko Kai & Jun Aida & Katsunori Kondo & Ichiro Kawachi & Hiroshi Hirai & Kokoro Shirai & Yoshiki Ishikawa & Kayo Suzuki & The JAGES Group, 2014. "Social Participation and the Prevention of Functional Disability in Older Japanese: The JAGES Cohort Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-10, June.
    14. Sagar Sharma, 2016. "Impact of Globalisation on Mental Health in Low- and Middle-income Countries," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 28(2), pages 251-279, September.
    15. Uslaner, Eric & yamamura, Eiji, 2016. "Disaster and political trust: The Japan Tsunami and Earthquake of 2011," MPRA Paper 70527, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Jun Aida & Katsunori Kondo & Tatsuo Yamamoto & Masashige Saito & Kanade Ito & Kayo Suzuki & Ken Osaka & Ichiro Kawachi, 2016. "Is Social Network Diversity Associated with Tooth Loss among Older Japanese Adults?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-12, July.
    17. Bihan Tang & Yang Ge & Chen Xue & Peng Kang & Yuan Liu & Xu Liu & Zhipeng Liu & Wenya Yu & Lulu Zhang, 2015. "Health Status and Risk Factors among Adolescent Survivors One Month after the 2014 Ludian Earthquake," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-11, June.
    18. Mohamad Fahmi & Adiatma Siregar & Deni K Sunjaya & Gilang Amarullah & Rahma Rahma & Nur Afni Panjaitan, 2017. "Social Capital and Mental Health in Indonesia," Working Papers in Economics and Development Studies (WoPEDS) 201701, Department of Economics, Padjadjaran University, revised Sep 2017.
    19. Ester Villalonga-Olives & Josue Almansa & Cheryl L. Knott & Yusuf Ransome, 2020. "Social capital and health status: longitudinal race and ethnicity differences in older adults from 2006 to 2014," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(3), pages 291-302, April.
    20. Paloma Díaz & John M. Carroll & Ignacio Aedo, 2016. "Coproduction as an Approach to Technology-Mediated Citizen Participation in Emergency Management," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-16, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:151:y:2016:i:c:p:187-195. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.