Abstract
The impact of the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 was examined. In Study 1, mental and physical stress disorders among 748 disaster victims (4-88 years) in the first month after the earthquake were investigated, and analyzed according to shelter location, sex, and age. In Study 2, mental responses of 1005 children (3-5 years) and their mother's stress levels in the first three months after the earthquake were investigated, and the correlation between the children's responses and their mother's stress levels were examined. In Study 1, the results showed that: 1) people sheltering in public or refuges felt more severe stress than people sheltering in other places, 2) analyzing their mental and physical stress levels according to sex and age, women in their sixties felt more severe stress than other people. In Study 2, the results showed that: 1) children and mothers who suffered considerable material damage felt strong mental and physical stress, 2) according to characteristics of children's disorders, mother's stress levels were different.
