Regional Differences in the Psychological Recovery of Christchurch Residents Following the 2010/2011 Earthquakes: A Longitudinal Study

摘要

We examined changes in psychological distress experienced by residents of Christchurchfollowing two catastrophic earthquakes in late 2010 and early 2011, using data from theNew Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS), a national probability panel study ofNew Zealand adults. Analyses focused on the 267 participants (172 women, 95 men) whowere living in central Christchurch in 2009 (i.e., before the Christchurch earthquakes), andwho also provided complete responses to our yearly panel questionnaire conducted in late2010 (largely between the two major earthquakes), late 2011, and late 2012. Levels of psychologicaldistress were similar across the different regions of central Christchurch immediatelyfollowing the September 2010 earthquake, and remained comparable across regionsin 2011. By late 2012, however, average levels of psychological distress in the regions haddiverged as a function of the amount of property damage experienced within each given region.Specifically, participants in the least damaged region (i.e., the Fendalton-Waimairi andRiccarton-Wigram wards) experienced greater drops in psychological distress than didthose in the moderately damaged region (i.e., across the Spreydon-Heathcote and Hagley-Ferrymead wards). However, the level of psychological distress reported by participants inthe most damaged region (i.e., across Shirley-Papanui and Burwood-Pegasus) were notsignificantly different to those in the least damaged region of central Christchurch. Thesefindings suggest that different patterns of psychological recovery emerged across the differentregions of Christchurch, with the moderately damaged region faring the worst, but onlyafter the initial shock of the destruction had passed.