Post-Traumatic Growth Following Exposure to Memorial Reports of the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake: The Moderating Roles of Self-Esteem and Long-Term PTSD Symptoms

Media exposure during a traumatic event has been found to be associated with negative psychological consequences. However, the post-disaster role of the mass media and the possible positive psychological consequences of media exposure has received less attention. In the present study, we hypothesized that exposure to memorial media reports would lead to improved post-traumatic growth (PTG). Further, we evaluated the moderating role of self-esteem and long-term post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in the relationship between media exposure and PTG. Using a cross-sectional design, we surveyed individuals (N = 1000, mean age = 45.62, 43.5% male) who were recruited from disaster-affected communities ten years after the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake which was the largest country-level trauma in the past three decades. Results revealed that individuals with lower self-esteem or lower PTSD symptoms would have higher psychological growth with greater exposure to memorial news reports. For individuals who reported having both high levels of self-esteem and PTSD symptoms, the relationship between media exposure and PTG was negative. These findings help present trauma in a new light, particularly regarding the rapid and instantaneous new coverage of the digital age. This study also has multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural, and clinical implications for the fields of psychology, public health, and communications.

Media Exposure and General Trust as Predictors of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Ten Years after the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake in China

There is a paucity of literature on the roles of media exposure, general trust, and their interactions in long-term post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms after a natural disaster. Trying to address this knowledge gap, our study aimed to (a) investigate whether exposure to media coverage during the traumatic event and general trust directly affected adult survivors’ long-term PTSD symptoms 10 years after the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake, and (b) to identify the potential differential pattern of the influence of media exposure on PTSD symptoms for adult survivors with various levels of general trust. Using cross-sectional methodology, we surveyed participants (N = 1000) recruited from six disaster-affected counties. We assessed PTSD symptoms, media exposure, general trust, demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, and earthquake exposure. Data were analyzed descriptively and with Tobit regression analyses. Reversed relationships between general trust and PTSD were verified, whereas no direct links were found between media exposure and PTSD. Interaction tests revealed that media exposure alleviated PTSD for high-trust survivors, but aggravated PTSD for low-trust survivors. These results suggest that general trust building should be considered in post-disaster construction activities.

Research on Material Properties of Engineering Materials with Construct Disaster Preparedness of the Four-Dimensional Space in Hilly Cities’ Communities

We take “5.12 Wenchuan earthquake” influence and one of the university in Mianyang urban area as the typical examples of the disaster preparedness community. We discuss how to plan the multiply disaster preparedness which in accordance to the geographical feature of hilly cities through the material properties of engineering materials research and study of the four-dimensional space disaster preparedness model.