Long-Term Impact of Hurricane Sandy Exposure on Positive and Negative Affect: The Role of Perceived Social Support

Abstract

Objectives Natural disasters can have devastating, long-lasting effects on the mental health of older adults. However, few studies have examined associations among disaster exposure and positive and negative affect, and no longitudinal studies have investigated the extent to which pre-disaster perceived social support affects these associations. These analyses examine the associations among pre-disaster perceived social support, disaster exposure, and positive and negative affect experienced by community-dwelling older adults four years after Hurricane Sandy, controlling for pre-disaster affect. Methods Self-reported data collected before and after Hurricane Sandy from participants (aged 50-74 years) in the ORANJ BOWL panel (N=2442) were analyzed using linear regression models. Results Higher levels of peri-traumatic stress experienced during Hurricane Sandy and greater hardship experienced after the storm were associated with more negative affect four years following the disaster. Higher perceived social support at baseline was related to more positive affect and less negative affect both before and after the hurricane. Social support did not moderate the effect of hurricane exposure on either positive or negative affect. Discussion Findings suggest that psychological effects may persist years after natural disasters and that more effective interventions may be needed during and after a disaster. While social support is critical to positive and negative affect in general, its buffering effects when disaster strikes may be limited.

Better to Not Be Alone: Relationships between Hurricane Related Trauma, Spiritual Support, and Social Support

“…Studies have previously identified social support as a protective factor in trauma reactions of survivors. Our findings are consistent with previous findings on the role of perceived social support [39,[43][44][45][46]. The bivariate analyses indicate that perceived social support is inversely related to age, which is consistent with literature on non-volunteering older adults (for a review, see [64]).…”

“…Social support can take on numerous forms and can be provided by different systems, such as one's family, romantic partner, friends, or larger community [42]. Perceived social support at baseline has been supported to be a protective factor for trauma experiences [43][44][45][46].…”

The Impact of Climate Change on Older Adults’ Mental Health: A Primer for Clinicians

“…• life experience (including prior exposure to natural or human-caused disasters, such as the World Trade Center attacks preceding Hurricane Sandy; this has been termed "inoculation hypothesis") [29,60,61]; more specifically, prior disaster exposure was protective against PTSD, but increased risk for depression following climate disasters [37] • social cohesion and social capital [29,34,39,53,60,[62][63][64] • positive emotion and optimism [60,65] • history of mastering challenges [65] • positive religious coping skills [66] • perceived quality of the neighborhood green space [67]. Social cohesion (reflecting the trust and connections among community members) mediated the association between disaster exposure and PTSD symptom severity among New Jersey residents exposed to Hurricane Sandy [39].…”