Cited by 201Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchSubstance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesDisaster Response and Management

Postdisaster course of alcohol use disorders in systematically studied survivors of 10 disasters

North, Carol S., Ringwalt, Christopher L., Downs, Dana, Derzon, Jim, Galvin, Deborah·2011·Archives of General Psychiatry

Abstract

CONTEXT: Although several studies have suggested that alcohol use may increase after disasters, it is unclear whether any apparent postdisaster increases regularly translate into new cases of alcohol use disorders. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of predisaster and postdisaster prevalence of alcohol use disorders and to examine the incidence of alcohol use disorders in relation to disasters. DESIGN: Data from 10 disasters, studied within the first few postdisaster months and at 1 to 3 years postdisaster, were merged and examined. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred ninety-seven directly exposed survivors of 10 disasters. MEASURES: The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-III-R provided lifetime diagnoses of alcohol abuse and dependence, and onset and recency questions allowed a determination of whether the disorder had been present either prior to or following the event, or both. RESULTS: While the postdisaster prevalence of alcohol use disorders was 19%, only 0.3% of the sample developed an acute new postdisaster alcohol use disorder. Most of those in recovery, however, consumed alcohol after the disaster (83%) and coped with their emotions by drinking alcohol (22%). Those with a postdisaster alcohol use disorder were more than 4 times as likely as those without to cope with their disaster-related emotions by drinking alcohol (40% vs 9%). CONCLUSIONS: The vast majority of postdisaster alcohol use disorders represented the continuation or recurrence of preexisting problems. Findings suggest that those in recovery as well as those who drink to cope with their emotions represent groups warranting potential concern for postdisaster mental health intervention. Further research is needed to clarify the clinical significance of changes in alcohol use after disasters.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.131

Cites

51 of 51 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
North, C. S., Ringwalt, C. L., Downs, D., Derzon, J., & Galvin, D.
Affiliations
  • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
  • Pacific Institute For Research and Evaluation (US)
  • United States Department of Health and Human Services (US)
Venue
Archives of General Psychiatry
Published
2011-02-07
Volume
68
Issue
2
Pages
173
ISSN
0003-990X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2051466178
Cited by
201
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 9
FWCI
8.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Archives of General Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (MH68853, MH-40025, R01MH068853)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Disaster Response and Management
Keywords
alcoholism, disasters, disaster survivors, alcohol abuse, post-traumatic stress, emotional coping, alcohol use prevalence
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholism, Cross-Sectional Studies, Disasters, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Recurrence, Risk Factors, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, United States, Age of Onset, Survivors, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review