Authors
Catherine L Smith, Timothy CH Campbell, Caroline X Gao, Tyler J Lane, Darryl Maybery, Emily Berger, David Brown, Jillian F Ikin, Alexander McFarlane, Michael J Abramson, Matthew Carroll
Publication date
2023/4
Journal
Journal of Traumatic Stress
Volume
36
Issue
2
Pages
465-473
Description
The 2014 Hazelwood coal mine fire in the Latrobe Valley, Australia, distributed toxic smoke into surrounding communities over 45 days. This study investigated risk and protective factors associated with four trajectories of posttraumatic distress (resilient, recovery, delayed‐onset, chronic) among exposed adults. Participants (N = 709) completed surveys in 2016–2017 and 2019–2020 assessing mine fire–related particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure; sociodemographic, physical, and mental health variables; and exposure to other traumatic and recent stressful events. Mine fire–related posttraumatic distress was measured using the IES‐R; trajectories were determined according to established clinical significance thresholds. Relative risk ratios (RRRs) were generated from multivariate multinomial regressions. The resilient trajectory was most common (77.0%). The chronic trajectory (8.5%) was associated with …
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