social support and recovery from ptsd

objective: the main aim of this study was to investigate the psychological and social adjustment of parents whose adolescent children had experienced a disaster. mediating factors were considered; such as whether the child developed post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd), dysfunctional attitudes, other intervening life events, and especially, social support. method: participants were 37 women whose adolescent children had survived the ‘jupiter’ sinking in 1988. subjects were divided into a subgroup of women (n=20) whose children had ptsd, and a subgroup (n=17) whose children did not develop ptsd. comparison groups were widows (n=18), and women who had suffered no major negative life events (n=15). measurements were done on the schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia, lifetime version (sads-l), the social adjustment scale (sas), and other questionnaires. results: mean total scores on social support in all groups in comparison with sads-l scores, showed a significant correlation with the post-event panic disorder and a trend of negative correlation with all post-event psychopathologies. conclusion: results supported the hypothesis that social support was probably a protective factor for the participants in this study.