Relationship between Coping Strategies, Personality Traits and Psychological Distress in Bam Earthquake Survivors

Background: after each natural disaster a comprehensive treatmentprotocol is needed for volunteers of healthcare personnel ofthe disaster zone. the aim of this study was to emphasize thepsychological aspects of coping strategies, personality, psychologicaldistress and pain of patients survived the bam earthquake.methods: eighty-six patients who had suffered several kindsof psycho-cognitive and emotional impairment of the posttraumaticstress disorder (ptsd) were selected six monthsafter the earthquake. they completed a battery of questionnairesincluding the hospital anxiety and depression scale(hads), ways of coping checklist, eysenck personalityquestionnaire (epq), and mcgill pain questionnaire (mpq).multiple regression analyses and correlation analyses wereapplied for inclusion and exclusion of variables. correlationswere reported between the hads, epq and mpq.results: both anxiety and depression showed significant positivecorrelations with five of the dimensions of mpq. high levels ofneuroticism were associated with greater use of denial and passivity.psychoticism was negatively associated with external support,given the social withdrawal to be associated with psychoticism.correlation analysis confirmed that high neuroticism wasrelated to greater degrees of emotional distress. anxiety and depressionwere both associated with increased scores in denial andpassivity. female patients were found to score significantlyhigher than males on the factor of relying on external support.concjusion: the main problems of patients that survivedfrom bam earthquake were emotional distress, coping deficiencyand adjustment disorders. it seems that psychologicalintervention might be more effective than the conventionalmedical treatments that were administered in the hospital.