Occupational Difficulties of Disaster-Affected Local Government Employees in the Long-Term Recovery Phase after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Modeling Analysis

Local government officials play a central role in post-disaster community reconstruction. However, few studies have reported on the actual difficulties during a complex disaster involving a nuclear accident. A self-rated questionnaire survey was administered to a total of 583 public employees in four municipalities around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The relationship between universal occupational factors and radiation disaster-specific factors on job satisfaction and intention to leave the job due to radiation anxiety was evaluated using structural equation modeling. The results showed that interpersonal problems (beta = -0.246) and service years (beta = -0.127) were related to job satisfaction, whereas radiation-specific factors were not related to job satisfaction, and only to the intention to leave work due to radiation anxiety. A sense of coherence was associated with job satisfaction (beta = 0.373) and intention to leave work due to radiation anxiety (beta = -0.182), and it served as a moderator of the universal occupational factors and the radiation disaster-specific factors. Therefore, it is suggested that outcomes could be improved through increased stress coping capacity by providing support for relationships and radiation risk communication to public employees during the disaster recovery period.

Automated summary

Local government officials play a crucial role in post-disaster community reconstruction, but there is limited research on the challenges they face during complex disasters involving nuclear accidents. A survey of public employees in four municipalities near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station found that interpersonal problems and service years were related to job satisfaction, while radiation-specific factors were only related to intention to leave the job due to radiation anxiety. A sense of coherence acted as a moderator between universal occupational factors and radiation disaster-specific factors.