Abstract
Background: The May 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada forced evacuation of the population of 88,000 individuals and destroyed 10% of the homes. Youth are particularly impacted by disaster. Methods: Eighteen months after the wildfire, Fort McMurray Public and Catholic Schools surveyed 3,252 of the 4,407 students in Grades 7–12 to determine possible long-term psychological impacts. The survey included validated measurement scales for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, quality of life, self-esteem, and resilience. Data analysis was possible for only 3,070 students, i.e., 70% of the total student population. Anonymized data were analyzed to compare students who directly experienced lesser or greater impact from the wildfire, with greater impact defined as personally seeing the fire or having one’s home destroyed. Also, students with greater or lesser scores on the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-12) were compared. Results: Of the 3,070 students, 37% met criteria for probable PTSD; 31% met criteria for probable depression, and 17% for probable depression of at least moderate severity; 27% of students met criteria for probable anxiety, and 15% for probable alcohol or substance use disorder; 46% of all students met criteria for one or more probable diagnosis of PTSD, depression, anxiety, or alcohol/substance abuse, and this included students who were both present and not present in Fort McMurray at the time of the wildfire. Students with greater impact from the wildfire exhibited significantly higher scores on measures of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and alcohol/substance use. They also had lower self-esteem and quality of life scores. Students with lower resilience scores exhibited a similar pattern. Conclusions: These findings highlight first the negative impact of disasters on youth mental health, particularly for those who directly experience wildfire, and second the role of resilience on youth mental health, with lower resilience associated with substantially lower mental health outcomes. These results emphasize the need for long-term mental health supports for youth post-disaster, with specific focus on increasing youth resilience, which may serve as a protective factor against effects of disaster on mental health.
Highlights
On May 3, 2016, a large wildfire, called “The Beast” in the popular media [1], forced the population of 88,000 living in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada to evacuate
The current study presents an extended analysis of the Fort McMurray dataset, including an investigation of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as examining the effects of severity of impacts from the 2016 wildfire experienced by different individuals on PTSD, depression, anxiety, alcohol/substance misuse, self-esteem, quality of life, and resilience
By way of comparison with previous Canadian studies, the prevalence of probable diagnosis of PTSD in children has been reported as 15.5% [35]; prevalence of major depression in adolescents has been reported as 4–8% [37]; incidence of probable anxiety in children and adolescents has been reported as 10–13% [38]; and 17% of adolescents have reported binge drinking in the past month [39]
Summary
On May 3, 2016, a large wildfire, called “The Beast” in the popular media [1], forced the population of 88,000 living in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada to evacuate. Many individuals were displaced because their homes were damaged or made otherwise unfit for habitation by the fire. In addition to physical damage to local infrastructure, the community was affected by social, emotional, and psychological difficulties that are often present after a disaster [3]. Youth in particular are affected by disasters given their dependence on adults, structural vulnerabilities, as well as physical, psychological, and social factors related to the youth developmental stage. The May 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada forced evacuation of the population of 88,000 individuals and destroyed 10% of the homes.
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