Background This study examined the relationship between perceived disaster damage, posttraumatic stress, and subjective health status after disasters and the moderating effect of perceived psychological support among disaster victims.
Methods Data from 1,821 participants in the fourth ‘Follow-up Survey on Change of Disaster Victims’ conducted by the National Disaster Management Research Institute in 2019 were analyzed.
Results The results showed that the perceived degree of disaster damage significantly impacted subjective health status after disasters; this effect was fully mediated by posttraumatic stress. Furthermore, perceptions of psychological support were found to moderate the mediation effect of posttraumatic stress.
Conclusions Based on these findings, a discussion was suggested regarding future improvements in disaster-supporting policies.