Tanisho Y1, Shigemura J2, Kubota K3, Tanigawa T4, Bromet EJ5, Takahashi S6, Matsuoka Y7, Nishi D8, Nagamine M9, Harada N10, Tanichi M2, Takahashi Y6,Shimizu K9, Nomura S2, Yoshino A2; Fukushima NEWS Project Collaborators.

A research paper, entitled “The longitudinal mental health impact of Fukushima nuclear disaster exposures and public criticism among power plant workers: the Fukushima NEWS Project study”, was published in Psychological Medicine, an international academic journal.
The research team includes Ms. Yukiko Tanisho, former HGPI senior associate; Dr. Kazumi Kubota, HGPI fellow; and Dr. Jun Shigemura, Associate Professor for the National Defense Medical College’s Department of Psychiatry.

The researchers investigated how various stressors related to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake influence general psychological distress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among a total of 968 Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Power Plant workers at two different time points, 2-3 months and 14-15 months, post-disaster.
Researchers found that the workers who experienced psychological distress and/or discrimination and slurs 2-3 months after the disaster continued to experience psychological distress 14-15 months after the disaster. This result suggests the great importance of early intervention of mental health care and societal support in the early phase after the disaster.

>>The full text of the paper can be found
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27534897

BACKGROUND:
The Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Power Plant workers experienced multiple stressors as both victims and onsite workers after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent nuclear accidents. Previous studies found that disaster-related exposures, including discrimination/slurs, were associated with their mental health. Their long-term impact has yet to be investigated.

METHOD:
A total of 968 plant workers (Daiichi, n = 571; Daini, n = 397) completed self-written questionnaires 2-3 months (time 1) and 14-15 months (time 2) after the disaster (response rate 55.0%). Sociodemographics, disaster-related experiences, and peritraumatic distress were assessed at time 1. At time 1 and time 2, general psychological distress (GPD) and post-traumatic stress response (PTSR) were measured, respectively, using the K6 scale and Impact of Event Scale Revised. We examined multivariate covariates of time 2 GPD and PTSR, adjusting for autocorrelations in the hierarchical multiple regression analyses.

RESULTS:
Higher GPD at time 2 was predicted by higher GPD at time 1 (β = 0.491, p < 0.001) and discrimination/slurs experiences at time 1 (β = 0.065, p = 0.025, adjusted R2 = 0.24). Higher PTSR at time 2 was predicted with higher PTSR at time 1 (β = 0.548, p < 0.001), higher age (β = 0.085, p = 0.005), and discrimination/slurs experiences at time 1 (β = 0.079, p = 0.003, adjusted R2 = 0.36).

CONCLUSIONS:
Higher GPD at time 2 was predicted by higher GPD and discrimination/slurs experience at time 1. Higher PTSR at time 2 was predicted by higher PTSR, higher age, and discrimination/slurs experience at time 1.