No abstract

Limited research has evaluated the mental health effects during compounding disasters (e.g., a hurricane occurring during a pandemic), and few studies have examined post‐disaster mental health with alternative data sources like crisis text lines. This study examined changes in crisis help‐seeking for individuals in Louisiana, USA, before and after Hurricane Ida (2021), a storm that co‐occurred during the COVID‐19 pandemic. An interrupted time series analysis and difference‐in‐difference analysis for single and multiple group comparisons were used to examine pre‐and post‐changes in crisis text volume (i.e., any crisis text, substance use, thoughts of suicide, stress/anxiety, and bereavement) among help‐seeking individuals in communities that received US Federal Emergency Management Agency individual and public assistance following a presidential disaster declaration. Results showed a significant increase in crisis texts for any reason, thoughts of suicide, stress/anxiety, and bereavement in the four‐week, three‐month, and four‐month post‐impact period. Findings highlight the need for more mental health support for residents directly impacted by disasters like Hurricane Ida.

No abstract

Study examines the mental and behavioral disorder response to changing environmental conditions during summer months in North Carolina, USA.• Socio-demographics compared to environmental factors were more predictive of mental health outcomes in adolescents.• Findings indicate the effect of place-based differences in a youth's mental health response to extreme heat.

A robust evidence base shows that as climate change continues, there will be an increase in the occurrence of intense tropical cyclones like Hurricane Ida (Kossin et al., 2020). Since the early 1980s, the intensity, frequency, and duration of North Atlantic hurricanes, as well as the frequency of the strongest hurricanes have all increased (Kossin et al., 2010;Melillo et al., 2014;Walsh et al., 2014). A recent NOAA report concludes that tropical cyclones' intensity and associated rainfall are likely to increase during the 21st century due to anthropogenic climate change, putting US populations at greater risk for hurricane impacts (Knutson et al., 2019). Direct exposure to climate disaster events yields an increase in mental health consequences in the impacted populations, including anxiety (