Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T15:55:00.027Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ethical and Methodological Issues in Academic Mental Health Research in Populations Affected by Disasters: The Oklahoma City Experience Relevant to September 11, 2001

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Carol S. North ,
Betty Pfefferbaum  and
Phebe Tucker
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Empirical data from research studies are vital to guiding mental health interventions following disasters. However, few data are available for this purpose. Important advances in policy and procedures for the conduct of organized research emerged from the Oklahoma City bombing, yielding cooperative working relationships among researchers and culminating in the ethical attainment of informative research data. However, the academic community was again caught off guard after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Suggestions to surmount these obstacles include incorporating research infrastructures into disaster preparedness plans in advance; organizing the community of researchers; and working closely with major funding organizations. Methodological issues pertaining to measurement of psychopathology include the importance of obtaining diagnostic data; interpreting the meaning of symptoms in the absence of a psychiatric disorder; differentiating preexisting symptoms from those that emerged after the disaster, and optimal timing of postdisaster assessment.

Type
Feature Article
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 7 , Issue 8 , August 2002 , pp. 580 - 584
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Quick, G. A paradigm for multidisciplinary disaster research: the Oklahoma City experience. Emerg Med. 1998;16:621–630.Google ScholarPubMed
2.Tucker, P, et al.Oklahoma City: disaster challenges mental health and medical administrators. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research 1998;25:93–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Nixon, SJet al.Structure and organization of research efforts following the bombing of the Murrah Building. Journal of Personal and Interpersonal Loss. 1998;3:99–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.North, CSet al.Psychiatric disorders among survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing. JAMA. 1999;282:755–762.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Smith, EM, Robins, LN, Przybeck, TRet al.Psychosocial consequences of a disaster. In: Shore, JH, eds. Disaster Stress Studies: New Methods and Findings. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1986:49–76.Google Scholar
6.McMillen, JC, North, CS, Smith, EM. What parts of PTSD are normal: intrusion, avoidance, or arousal? Data from the Northridge, Calif, earthquake. J Trauma Stress. 2000;13:57–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.North, CS, Smith, EM. Post-traumatic stress disorder in disaster survivors. Compr Ther. 1990;16:3–9.Google ScholarPubMed
8.North, CS, Smith, EM, Spitznagel, EL. Posttraumatic stress disorder in survivors of a mass shooting. Am J Psychiatry. 1994;151:82–88.Google ScholarPubMed
9.Rubonis, AV, Bickman, L. Psychological impairment in the wake of disaster: the disaster-psychopathology relationship. Psych Bull. 1991;109:384–399.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Koopman, C, Classen, C, Spiegel, D. Dissociative responses in the immediate aftermath of the Oakland/Berkeley firestorm. J Trauma Stress. 1996;9:521–540.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.North, CS, Smith, EM, Spitznagel, EL. One-year follow-up of survivors of a mass shooting. Am J Psychiatry. 1997;154:1696–702.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Grace, MC, Green, BL, Lindy, JLet al.The Buffalo Creek Disaster: a 14-year follow-up. In: Wilson, JP and Raphael, B, eds. International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. New York, NY: Plenum; 1993:441–449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.McFarlane, A. The longitudinal course of posttraumatic morbidity: the range of outcomes and their predictors. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1988;176:30–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Epstein, R, Fullerton, C, Ursano, R. Posttraumatic stress disorder following an air disaster: a prospective study. Am J Psychiatry. 1998;155:934–938.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Wang, XWet al.Longitudinal study of earthquake-related PTSD in a randomly selected community sample in North China. Am J Psychiatry. 2000;157:1260–1266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar