Post disaster resilience

Abstract

The present analyses examined the differential risks of and protective factors against depressive symptoms of African American and Non-Hispanic White American student volunteers, respectively after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (H-KR). A total sample of 554 student volunteers were recruited from mental health professional programs at five universities located in the Deep South, namely areas severely impacted by H-KR during fall semester 2005. The response rate was 91% (n = 505). African American respondents (n = 299) and Non-Hispanic White Americans (n = 206) completed the survey questionnaires. Respondents retrospectively provided information on peritraumatic emotional reactions and previous trauma that were recalled by H-KR and H-KR stressors. African American respondents reported higher levels of depressive symptoms (65.2%) than their Non-Hispanic White counterparts (34.8%). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that disaster related stressors affected African Americans (p < 0.001), but not Non-Hispanic Whites. However, African Americans who experienced peritraumatic positive emotions had lower depression levels. Lower rates of recollection of prior traumas during H-KR were reported by African American respondents, whereas previous trauma recollections predicted symptoms among Non-Hispanic White Americans (p < 0.05). Exhibiting more optimism had lower depression levels among Non-Hispanic White Americans. Peritraumatic negative emotion was the only shared risk for depressive symptoms of both groups. Findings underscore racially different levels of depressive symptoms that may contribute to varying degrees of resilience among student volunteers. Future research and practice may address these racial differences by understanding the risk factors for depressive symptoms to develop appropriate interventions for racial groups, and cultivating the protective factors that contribute to resilience from traumatic experiences.

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

“…There is a plethora of mental and emotional adverse reactions volunteers might have related to being in a disaster-devastated environment [9,11]. Some long-term mental health outcomes of disaster exposure have been supported to be burnout [9,12] post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS; [13][14][15][16][17]), depression [18], anxiety [19,20], disordered sleep [13,19], and suicidality [21]. Health behaviors associated with the mentioned mental health outcomes are coping-motivated drinking [22] and increased drug use [23,24] to name a few.…”

Depressive Symptoms in Black and White Volunteers: Six-month Post Deadly Natural Hazard Hurricane: Does Race Identity Matter?

“…Research indicates an increase in the incidence of severe weather events (Thaler & Seebauer 2019). In the aftermath of a natural hazard, the environment is typically full of potentially traumatic stressors, extreme or severe events that are so powerful, harmful, and threatening that they may demand extraordinary coping efforts (Mao et al, 2022;Meichenbaum, 1997;Nicdao et al, 2013). The literature indicates approximately 80% of residents living in communities have experienced at least one or more traumatic events (Breslau, 2009).…”