A study of the impact of emotional distress following the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake

摘要

The catastrophic M 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake which occurred in the west of the Sichuan basin, China on May 12, 2008, has had a devastating impact on the victims. To what extent have local people been affected? How long will it take for them to recover? A project was undertaken among 2080 individuals in the disaster area to examine the emotional and psychological effects on their mental health.The study adopted a stratified sampling method in the 19 quake-hit counties in Sichuan and Shanxi provinces. Three communities were included in each county. In the Sichuan province, eighteen counties were selected: Dujiangyan, Pen-gzhou, Chongzhou, Shifang, Mianzhu, Jiangyou, Anxian, Pingwu, Beichuan, Jiange, Qingchuan, Hanyuan, Wenchuan, Lixian, Maoxian, Songpan, Heishui, and Xiaojin.