Importance of Psychological Support for Disaster-Affected Adolescents: 10 Years After the Great East Japan Earthquake

Introduction: Adolescents affected by disasters need mental health support because they tend to be at risk of developing psychiatric disorders and stress as grown-ups. However, it is difficult to develop and validate a support system for adolescents affected by disasters because it is unknown when and where disasters occur, and there is inadequate data related to this in Japan. Methods: To address these issues, we present a mental health support system for high school students affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. We hypothesized that mental health support could be provided by classroom teachers and school nurses, who are familiar with high school students. We investigated the psychological state of the affected high school students for three years after the earthquake, and the students in psychological crises received interventions from their class teachers and school nurses. Results: The intervention resulted in improvements in depression and post-traumatic stress reaction (PTSR). Conclusion: These results suggest that our high school-based intervention is a feasible solution for mental health support for adolescents affected by the disaster.