Psychological Distress in Disaster Social Workers Responding to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

Background: Many social workers have counseled, debriefed, and supported the survivors, victims’ families, and rescue workers involved in traumatic natural and man-made disasters. As more social workers are required to respond to such events, disaster social workers may experience similar psychological distress that survivors and victims’ families undergo, resulting in such strong emotional reactions as terror and grief. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the most powerful ever to hit Japan, struck off the coast of Tohoku prefecture, churning up a devastating tsunami. This disaster killed more than 22,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated their homes and still remain in shelters or are housed by friends and relatives. Disaster social workers in Japan have assisted these victims and will continue to do so for years to come. However, very few studies have been conducted to examine psychological distress among Japanese disaster social workers who may suffer from the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.  

Purpose: This study has two purposes: 1) to examine risk and protective factors for psychological distress in disaster social workers who assist victims of the Tohoku Earthquake; and 2) to explore how to mitigate psychological distress of disaster social workers. The theories of stress and social support suggest that meeting with traumatized clients can be the significant risk factors for psychological distress, while a supportive work environment in human service organizations (e.g., supervision, case conference, and co-worker support) is considered a protective factor. The influences of potential risk and protective factors on psychological distress were investigated in this study.

Methods: A mail survey was sent to social workers in the Tohoku area in September 2012. The total number of completed surveys was 114 with an overall response rate of 40%. The 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used to measure psychological distress (Goldberg et al., 1979). Organizational support was measured by 6 items which assessed the levels of clinical supervisor support and case conference (Liang et al., 2002; Moos, 1994; Slattery, 2003). The degree of friendliness and support among co-workers in human service organizations was measured by the 9-item Co-Worker Cohesion scale. Demographic information included gender, age, and years of social work practice.  

Results: There was a significant prediction of psychological distress by number of counseled victims of the Tohoku Earthquake, degree of organizational support, degree of co-worker cohesion and demographics, F(6, 92)=2.32, p <.05, R² =.14, adjusted R² =.08. The levels of co-worker cohesion reduced the levels of psychological distress, β =-.32, t(92)= -2.53, p<.05, sr² =.06. None of the demographics significantly predicted the levels of psychological distress among social workers.

Implications: Results showed that disaster social workers who experienced high levels of co-worker cohesion exhibited low psychological distress, suggesting that a supportive work environment in human service organizations can reduce the risk of developing psychological distress in these workers. The findings and implications of this study are discussed for all disaster social workers who may experience psychological distress not only in Japan but also in the United States.