TY - JOUR
T1 - Chernobyl disaster sequelae in recent immigrants to the United States from the former soviet union (FSU)
AU - Foster, Rose Marie Perez
AU - Goldstein, Marjorie F.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This study was supported by grants from the Glass Foundation, New York, NY, USA. The authors wish to thank Edwin Renaud for data management and the other Glass Research Fellows for their assistance in this project: Lana Grintsvayg, Sofya Kizhner, Zoya Khomich, Natalia Litvinova and Olga Poznansky.
Funding Information:
For the purpose of analysis, the population was divided into three sub-groups based on proximity to the epicenter: within 50 km, 50–150 km, over 150 km from the accident. This categorization was based on post-disaster estimates of radioactive contamination densities established by the International Atomic Energy Commission for impacted geographical areas (International Atomic Energy Agency, 1991; 1989). Similar to previous studies, this factor was used as an approximated index of exposure to the disaster. For the current study, geographical coordinates of subjects’ reported location at the time of the accident were plotted by investigators, and distance from Chernobyl, Ukraine calculated [39].
PY - 2007/4
Y1 - 2007/4
N2 - Long-term mental health sequelae of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster have been documented for exposed populations who remained in the former Soviet Union (FSU) (Havenaar et al., 1997), and in a cohort migrated to Israel (Cwikel et al., 1997). This paper reports on Chernobyl disaster sequelae in émigrés (n = 321) to the United States. Demographic characteristics, migration factors, and self-reported physical health were considered. Both geographical proximity to the 1986 disaster, and perception of radiation risk stood as long-term indicators of current psychological distress. Proximity was related to poor self-perceived physical health, as well as current symptoms of depression (p <.05), anxiety (p <.01), and Chernobyl-related trauma distress (p <.001) on standardized measures. Environmental contamination as a reason for migration was also associated with greater mental health symptomatology.
AB - Long-term mental health sequelae of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster have been documented for exposed populations who remained in the former Soviet Union (FSU) (Havenaar et al., 1997), and in a cohort migrated to Israel (Cwikel et al., 1997). This paper reports on Chernobyl disaster sequelae in émigrés (n = 321) to the United States. Demographic characteristics, migration factors, and self-reported physical health were considered. Both geographical proximity to the 1986 disaster, and perception of radiation risk stood as long-term indicators of current psychological distress. Proximity was related to poor self-perceived physical health, as well as current symptoms of depression (p <.05), anxiety (p <.01), and Chernobyl-related trauma distress (p <.001) on standardized measures. Environmental contamination as a reason for migration was also associated with greater mental health symptomatology.
KW - Chernobyl sequelae
KW - FSU immigrants
KW - Nuclear trauma
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/33846107162
U2 - 10.1007/s10903-006-9024-8
DO - 10.1007/s10903-006-9024-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 17180723
AN - SCOPUS:33846107162
SN - 1557-1912
VL - 9
SP - 115
EP - 124
JO - Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
JF - Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
IS - 2
ER -