Developmental Trajectories and Predictors of Prosocial Behavior Among Adolescents Exposed to the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake

Citation:

Qin, Yanyun, Ya Zhou, Fang Fan, Shijian Chen, Rong Huang, Rouna Cai, and Ting Peng. 2016. “Developmental Trajectories and Predictors of Prosocial Behavior Among Adolescents Exposed to the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake.” Journal of Traumatic Stress 29 (1): 80–87. doi:10.1002/jts.22064.

Authors: Rouna Cai, Shijian Chen, Fang Fan, Rong Huang, Ting Peng, Yanyun Qin, Ya Zhou

Abstract:

This longitudinal study examined the developmental trajectories of prosocial behavior and related predictors among adolescents exposed to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. At 6-, 18-, and 30-months postearthquake, we followed a sample of 1,573 adolescents. Self-report measures were used to assess earthquake exposure, postearthquake negative life events, prosocial behavior, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, social support, and coping style. Data were analyzed using growth mixture modeling and multinomial logistic regressions. Four trajectories of postearthquake prosocial behavior were identified in the sample: (a) high/enhancing (35.0%), (b) high/stable (29.4%), (c) low/declining (33.6%), and (d) low/steeply declining (2.0%). Female gender, more social support, and greater positive coping were significant factors related to a higher probability of developing the high/enhancing trajectory. These findings may be helpful for us to identify adolescents with poor prosocial behavior after exposure to earthquakes so as to provide them with appropriate intervention.

Topics: Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gender Analysis, Health, Mental Health, PTSD, Trauma Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: China

Year: 2016

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