Chronic disaster impact:The long-term psychological and physical health consequences of housing damage due to induced earthquakes

Objectives To evaluate the long-term (psychosomatic) health consequences of man-made earthquakes compared with a non-exposure control group. Exposure was hypothesised to have an increasingly negative impact on health outcomes over time.Setting Large-scale gas extraction in the Netherlands causing earthquakes and considerable damage.Participants A representative sample of inhabitants randomly selected from municipal population records; contacted 5 times during 21 months (T1: N=3934; T5: N=2150; mean age: 56.54; 50% men; at T5, N=846 (39.3%) had no, 459 (21.3%) once and 736 (34.2%) repeated damages).Main measures (Psychosomatic) health outcomes: self-rated health and Mental Health Inventory (both: validated; Short Form Health Survey); stress related health symptoms (shortened version of previously validated symptoms list). Independent variable: exposure to the consequences of earthquakes assessed via physical (peak ground acceleration) and personal exposure (damage to housing: none, once, repeated).Results Exposure to induced earthquakes has negative health consequences especially for those whose homes were damaged repeatedly. Compared with a no-damage control group, repeated damage was associated with lower self-rated health (OR:1.64), mental health (OR:1.83) and more stress-related health symptoms (OR:2.52). Effects increased over time: in terms of relative risk, by T5, those whose homes had repeated damage were respectively 1.60 and 2.11 times more likely to report poor health and negative mental health and 2.84 times more at risk of elevated stress related health symptoms. Results for physical exposure were comparable.Conclusion This is the first study to provide evidence that induced earthquakes can have negative health consequences for inhabitants over time. It identifies the subpopulation particularly at risk: people with repeated damages who have experienced many earthquakes. Findings can have important implications for the prevention of negative health consequences of induced earthquakes

Downward comparison in close relationships : a blessing in disguise?

All in all, the experimental studies presented in the present thesis support the argument that the consequences of downward comparison amount to a mixed blessing. On the one hand, when someone engages in downward comparison, he or she may feel better about his or her own situation. In particular when a relationship partner is subject to relational discontent, downward comparison appears to alleviate his or her condition if that individual also possesses a strong personality disposition to engage in social comparison. However, the other side of the coin is that such an evaluation is made at the expense of other people who are worse-off. In other words, the evaluator profits by the social comparison activities because it may provide him or her with a superior status of someone who lives a relatively successful life, whereas the inferior comparison targets are in fact considered as individuals whose lives are less enjoyable and less successful. Self-enhancers especially, who engage in overt downward social comparison behavior seem to run a risk of offending others which, in turn, may turn the tide against the self-enhancers as those others develop an antipathy for the evaluator through which future social interaction could be frustrated.