Long Term Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms among Victims of the Sichuan Earthquake

88,000 lives were lost in the horrifying earthquake happened in May 2008. The Social Work Across Borders (SWAB), a non-governmental organization sponsored by the Government of HKSAR, carried out a 3 years’ post disaster service in the town of Leigu, Sichuan. In a post service survey among 197 clients provided with case and group work services respondents still showed higher level of stress in CES-D when compared to the general population. Hope, Optimism and Gratitude however correlate with lower CES-D and higher appreciation for the social work services. This provides insights for future services which should focus more on Hope, optimism and gratitude value strengths.