Disaster exposure as a risk factor for mental health problems, eighteen months, four and ten years post-disaster – a longitudinal study

Table 1 Demographic characteristics and disaster-related factors measured at wave 1 (N = 1567)

	%	% missing
Male gender	47.1	0.06
Mean age	Mean = 42.1	0.2
Native Dutch	69.1	3.0
Paid job	55.5	3.2
High educational level	45.8	4.3
Smoking	38.3	2.9
≥ 1 Chronic diseases	29.9	19.7
House destroyed due to disaster	21.8	3.3
Injury self due to disaster	7.2	1.5
Lost a loved one due to disaster^a	6.0	1.5
Witnessed injured victims^b	67.3	0
Witnessed deceased victims	11.1	0
Heard yelling individuals^b	59.9	0
Felt heart palpitations^b	47.2	0
Felt intense anxiety^b	62.2	0
Fled from explosions and/or fire^b	63.2	0
Helped affected victims^b	48.6	0
Feelings of guilt and/or shame	8.3	22.0
Confusion	39.6	15.8

^a Lost a family member, colleague or a friend. One percent of the survivors lost a family member (n = 19).
^b The item was coded as ‘no’ when it was not ticked.

ISSN: 1471-244X