Controversy over potential mental health effects of the Three Mile
Island Unit-1 restart led the authors to examine prospectively the pattern
of psychiatric symptoms in a sample of Three Mile Island area mothers of
young children. Symptom levels after restart were elevated over previous
levels; a sizable subcohort of the sample reported relatively serious
degrees of postrestart distress. History of diagnosable major depression
and generalized anxiety following the Three Mile Island accident, plus
symptoms and beliefs about personal risk prior to the restart, best
predicted postrestart symptoms.Abstract Teaser