Implications of psychological research on stress and technological accidents

Abstract

Psychological research on stress, disasters, and human-made technological accidents have important implications for policy, planning, and legal resolution of situations caused by environmental hazards. The incidence of technological accidents and catastrophes seems to have increased, and the biobehavioral sequelae of such accidents among victims have implications for mental and physical health as well as for intervention and prevention. In this article, research on the long-term effects of human-made disasters is discussed in the context of contributions that psychological research and theory can make in decisions regarding where potential hazards are located, how they are managed, and how accidents are handled. Unique psychophysiological processes associated with toxic accidents make these stressors more potent and likely to cause long-term uncertainty and chronic stress.