Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T03:14:09.076Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Psychosocial Aftermath of the Chernobyl Disaster in an Area of Relatively Low Contamination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Victor S. Koscheyev ,
Gloria R. Leon ,
Andrej V. Gourine  and
Valerie N. Gourine
Victor S. Koscheyev
Affiliation:
School of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Gloria R. Leon*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Andrej V. Gourine
Affiliation:
Belorussian Research Institute of Cardiology, Minsk, Belarus
Valerie N. Gourine
Affiliation:
Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus
*
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Elliott Hall, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction:

There has been relatively little attention paid to the mid- and long-term effects of large-scale disasters, particularly their effects on children and young people. At the present time, the impact of the Chernobyl catastrophe on the daily lives of the affected population may include one of strong psychological stress due to uncertainty about ultimate health outcomes. Persons in the Chernobyl region in specific areas of low contamination may be affected similarly. This investigation assesses radiation concerns and attitudes about health and government information, nine years after the disaster, in a group of adults and adolescents residing in a relatively uncontaminated village in the Chernobyl area.

Methods:

Questionnaires were administered to 94 adults and 50 adolescents. Items assessed beliefs about extent of radiation exposure, health concerns regarding oneself and family members, past and current pre-occupation about the disaster, and trust in the accuracy of government information about health effects.

Results:

Considerable uncertainty was demonstrated in both adults and adolescents about the extent of their and their families exposure to radiation. Marked distrust of past and current government information about health effects was evident. A large proportion of subjects reported that they still thought frequently about the Chernobyl accident. They worried about health problems related to radiation exposure whenever they or their family members exhibited physical symptoms or complaints, and they urged family members to go to a medical clinic for evaluation to assess these symptoms.

Conclusion:

The extent of long-term concerns about the personal and family health effects of the Chernobyl disaster in this population residing in a relatively uncontaminated village is striking: the psychological impact on adolescents is considerable. The stress generated is maintained by the realistic uncertainty about the ultimate health consequences to the overall population as a result of radiation exposure and distrust in government information about contamination levels in this particular village. The level of stress and its effects on physical and mental health may increase over time if there is a rise in morbidity in the area. The continuing health needs of the extremely large population affected by the Chernobyl disaster need to be addressed.

Keywords

Chernobyldisaster stress, psychological effectsradiation concerns
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 1997 , pp. 41 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1997

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

1. Baum, A, Gatchel, RJ, Schaeffer, MA: Emotional, behavioral, and physiological effects of chronic stress at Three Mile Island. J Consult Clin Psychol 1983;51:565–572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Davidson, LM, Baum, A: Chronic stress and posttraumatic stress disorders. J Consult Clin Psychol 1986;54:303–308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Collins, DL, deCarvalho, AB: The Goiania137Cs radiation accident: Psychological, behavioral, and neuroendocrine chronic stress indices. J Behav Med 1993;18:149–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Bunyard, P: Health Guide for the Nuclear Age. London:Macmillan, 1988.Google Scholar
5. Matukovsky, N: Catastrophe. What we learned from the Chernobyl lessons. Izvestia 1990; No. 86, 26 March 1990. (Russian).Google Scholar
6. Upton, AC, Shore, RE, Harley, NH: The health effects of low-level ionizing radiation. Ann Rev Pub Health 1992;13:127–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Nikiforov, Y, Gnepp, DR: Pediatric thyroid cancer after the Chernobyl disaster. Pathomorphologic study of 84 cases (1991–1992) from the Republic of Belarus. Cancer 1994;74:748–766.3.0.CO;2-H>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Komissarenko, IV, Bol'shova, EV, Oleinik, VA, Epshtein, EV, Shakhmatova, VA: Morphofunctional characteristics of malignant thyroid gland tumors in children from various regions of the Ukraine, who have been victims of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Arkhiv Patol 1993;55:55–60. (Russian).Google Scholar
9. Furmanchuk, AW, Averkin, JI, Egloff, B, Ruchti, C, Abelin, T, Schappi, W, Korotkevich, EA: Pathomorphological findings in thyroid cancers of children from the Republic of Belarus: A study of 86 cases occurring between 1986 “post-Chernobyl” and 1991. Histopathol 1992;21:401–408.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Kachuk, AA: Health problems of the population in different regions of the Ukraine. Toxicology Letters 1994;72:213–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Mettler, FA, Williamson, MR, Royal, HO et al. : Thyroid nodules in the population living around Chernobyl. JAMA 1992;268:616–619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12. Ginzberg, HM: The psychological consequences of the Chernobyl accident findings from the International Atomic Energy Agency study. Pub Health Reports. 1993;184–192.Google Scholar
13. Domracheva, EV, Brilliant, MD, Vorob'ev, AI, Gulina, GP: Problem of radiation-induced leukemia. Gematologiia Transfuziologiia 1990;35:3–9. (Russian).Google ScholarPubMed
14. Bebeshko, VG, Klimenko, VI, Chumak, AA et al. : Crinico-immunocyto-logical characteristics of leukemia in persons exposed to ionizing radiation effects due to the Chernobyl AES accident. Vestnik Akademii Meditsinskikb 1991;8:28–31. (Russian).Google Scholar
15. Parkin, DM, Cardis, E, Masuyer, E et al. : Childhood leukaemia following the Chernobyl accident: the European Childhood Leukaemia-Lymphoma Incidence Study (ECLIS), European J Cancer 1992;29 A87–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Stsjazhko, VA, Tsyb, AF, Tronko, ND, Souchkevitch, G, Baverstock, KF: Childhood thyroid cancer since accident at Chernobyl. BMJ 1995;310:801.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Koscheyev, VS, Martens, VK, Kosenkov, AA, Lartzev, MA, Leon, GR: Psychological status of Chernobyl nuclear power plant operators after the nuclear disaster. J Trauma Stress 1993;6:123–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Aleksandrovski, J: Traumatic psychoneurotic disorders associated with the Chernobyl accident. Medical aspects of the Chernobyl accident. IA-292, 1989. (Russian).Google Scholar
19. The International Chernobyl Project: Technical Report: Assessment of radiological consequences and evaluation of protective measures. Vienna:IAEA, 1991.Google Scholar
20. Figley, CR: Trauma and its wake. Vol 2. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1986.Google Scholar
21. Bravo, M, Rubio-Stipec, M, Canino, G: Methodological aspects of disaster' mental health research. Int J Mental Health 1990;19:37–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22. Giel, R: Psychosocial processes in disasters. Int J Mental Health 1990;19:7–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Van der Pligt, J, Midden, FJH: Chernobyl four years later: Attitudes risk management and communication. J Environ Psychol 1990;10:91–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24. Mozgovaya, AV: Social consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe: Some results of sociological research. Preliminary paper 198, University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center, 1993.Google Scholar
25. National Research Council: Health effects of exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation. BEIR V. Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Board on Radiation Effects Research. Effects Research Commission on Life Sciences. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1990.Google Scholar
26. Shimizu, Y.Kato, H, Schull, WJ, Preston, DL, Fujita, S, Pierce, DA: Life Span Study Report 11, Part 1. Comparison of risk coefficients for site-specific cancer mortality based on the DS 86 and T 65 DR shielded kerma and organ doses. Technical Report RERFTR 12-87. Washington, D.C.: Hiroshima Radiation Effects Research Foundation, 1987.Google Scholar
27. Koscheyev, VS, Leon, GR, Greaves, IA: Lessons learned and unsolved public health problems after large-scale disasters, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, in press.Google Scholar
28. Leon, GR (ed): Proceedings of the conference: After Everyone Leaves: Medical and Psychological Consequences of large-scale disasters. November 1994, Minneapolis Minnesota, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 1996;11:95/S1–118/S24.Google Scholar
29. Green, BL: Assessing levels of psychological impairment following disaster. Consideration of actual and methodological dimensions. J Nerv Ment Dis 1982;170:544–552.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30. Fleming, R, Baum, A, Gisriel, MM, Gatchel, RJ: Mediating influences of social support on stress at Three Mile Island. J Hum Stress 1982;Sept:14–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31. Baum, A, Schaeffer, MA, Lake, CR, Fleming, R, Collins, DL: Psychological and endocrinological correlates of chronic stress at Three Mile Island. Perspectives on Behavioral Medicine 1986;2:201–217.Google Scholar