Prevalence and Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Residents of Fort McMurray Five Years after the Devastating Wildfires
Background: Natural disasters adversely impact individuals living in places where they occur, resulting in emotional distress. The wildfire that occurred in Fort McMurray (FMM), Alberta in 2016 is no different. Objective: This study aims to identify the prevalence and predictors of Generalized Anxie...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:39b7657b098647449ac0522ded0b032b 2023-05-15T16:17:36+02:00 Prevalence and Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Residents of Fort McMurray Five Years after the Devastating Wildfires Ernest Owusu Reham Shalaby Ejemai Eboreime Nnamdi Nkire Belinda Agyapong Gloria Obuobi-Donkor Medard K. Adu Wanying Mao Folajinmi Oluwasina Mobolaji A. Lawal Vincent I. O. Agyapong 2022-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/traumacare2020024 https://doaj.org/article/39b7657b098647449ac0522ded0b032b EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2673-866X/2/2/24 https://doaj.org/toc/2673-866X doi:10.3390/traumacare2020024 2673-866X https://doaj.org/article/39b7657b098647449ac0522ded0b032b Trauma Care, Vol 2, Iss 24, Pp 282-297 (2022) anxiety wildfire counseling disaster traumatic devastating Psychology BF1-990 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/traumacare2020024 2022-12-31T02:41:50Z Background: Natural disasters adversely impact individuals living in places where they occur, resulting in emotional distress. The wildfire that occurred in Fort McMurray (FMM), Alberta in 2016 is no different. Objective: This study aims to identify the prevalence and predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) symptoms in residents of FMM five years after the devastating wildfires. Methods: Data for the study were collected through a cross-sectional survey conducted online from the 24th of April to the 2nd of June 2021. A validated instrument, the GAD-7 scale, was used to collect information on anxiety. Results: This study involved 186 residents of FMM, of which the majority were females (85.5%), employed (94.1%), working at school boards (50.0%), and were either married, cohabiting, or partnered (71.0%). The prevalence of likely GAD among the study sample was 42.5%. Unemployed respondents were seventeen times more likely to develop GAD symptoms (OR = 16.62; 95% C.I. 1.23–223.67) while respondents who would like to receive mental health counseling were five times more likely to experience GAD symptoms (OR = 5.35; 95% C.I. 2.03–14.15). Respondents who suffered a loss of property because of the wildfire were two times more likely to develop GAD symptoms (OR = 2.36; 95% C.I. 1.01–22.62). Conclusion: Policymakers may mitigate GAD symptoms, particularly after natural disasters, by making long-term mental health counseling available and a key component of post-disaster management, and by investing in the social capital of the people to build resilience and support to deal with the post-disaster mental health effects. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fort McMurray Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Fort McMurray Trauma Care 2 2 282 297 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
anxiety wildfire counseling disaster traumatic devastating Psychology BF1-990 |
spellingShingle |
anxiety wildfire counseling disaster traumatic devastating Psychology BF1-990 Ernest Owusu Reham Shalaby Ejemai Eboreime Nnamdi Nkire Belinda Agyapong Gloria Obuobi-Donkor Medard K. Adu Wanying Mao Folajinmi Oluwasina Mobolaji A. Lawal Vincent I. O. Agyapong Prevalence and Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Residents of Fort McMurray Five Years after the Devastating Wildfires |
topic_facet |
anxiety wildfire counseling disaster traumatic devastating Psychology BF1-990 |
description |
Background: Natural disasters adversely impact individuals living in places where they occur, resulting in emotional distress. The wildfire that occurred in Fort McMurray (FMM), Alberta in 2016 is no different. Objective: This study aims to identify the prevalence and predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) symptoms in residents of FMM five years after the devastating wildfires. Methods: Data for the study were collected through a cross-sectional survey conducted online from the 24th of April to the 2nd of June 2021. A validated instrument, the GAD-7 scale, was used to collect information on anxiety. Results: This study involved 186 residents of FMM, of which the majority were females (85.5%), employed (94.1%), working at school boards (50.0%), and were either married, cohabiting, or partnered (71.0%). The prevalence of likely GAD among the study sample was 42.5%. Unemployed respondents were seventeen times more likely to develop GAD symptoms (OR = 16.62; 95% C.I. 1.23–223.67) while respondents who would like to receive mental health counseling were five times more likely to experience GAD symptoms (OR = 5.35; 95% C.I. 2.03–14.15). Respondents who suffered a loss of property because of the wildfire were two times more likely to develop GAD symptoms (OR = 2.36; 95% C.I. 1.01–22.62). Conclusion: Policymakers may mitigate GAD symptoms, particularly after natural disasters, by making long-term mental health counseling available and a key component of post-disaster management, and by investing in the social capital of the people to build resilience and support to deal with the post-disaster mental health effects. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ernest Owusu Reham Shalaby Ejemai Eboreime Nnamdi Nkire Belinda Agyapong Gloria Obuobi-Donkor Medard K. Adu Wanying Mao Folajinmi Oluwasina Mobolaji A. Lawal Vincent I. O. Agyapong |
author_facet |
Ernest Owusu Reham Shalaby Ejemai Eboreime Nnamdi Nkire Belinda Agyapong Gloria Obuobi-Donkor Medard K. Adu Wanying Mao Folajinmi Oluwasina Mobolaji A. Lawal Vincent I. O. Agyapong |
author_sort |
Ernest Owusu |
title |
Prevalence and Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Residents of Fort McMurray Five Years after the Devastating Wildfires |
title_short |
Prevalence and Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Residents of Fort McMurray Five Years after the Devastating Wildfires |
title_full |
Prevalence and Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Residents of Fort McMurray Five Years after the Devastating Wildfires |
title_fullStr |
Prevalence and Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Residents of Fort McMurray Five Years after the Devastating Wildfires |
title_full_unstemmed |
Prevalence and Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Residents of Fort McMurray Five Years after the Devastating Wildfires |
title_sort |
prevalence and predictors of generalized anxiety disorder symptoms in residents of fort mcmurray five years after the devastating wildfires |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/traumacare2020024 https://doaj.org/article/39b7657b098647449ac0522ded0b032b |
geographic |
Fort McMurray |
geographic_facet |
Fort McMurray |
genre |
Fort McMurray |
genre_facet |
Fort McMurray |
op_source |
Trauma Care, Vol 2, Iss 24, Pp 282-297 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-866X/2/2/24 https://doaj.org/toc/2673-866X doi:10.3390/traumacare2020024 2673-866X https://doaj.org/article/39b7657b098647449ac0522ded0b032b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/traumacare2020024 |
container_title |
Trauma Care |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
282 |
op_container_end_page |
297 |
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1766003499950145536 |