The impact of early social support on subsequent health recovery after a major disaster: A longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Social support may facilitate disaster recovery. Prior analyses are hampered by the limits of cross-sectional approaches. We use longitudinal data from the KATIVA-NOLA survey to explore whether social support soon after Hurricane Katrina facilitated recovery of health status for a representative sample of 82 Vietnamese New Orleanians. Health and social support were assessed just before Hurricane Katrina (2005), soon afterwards (2006, 2007), and at longer durations post-disaster (2010, 2018). We use random effects regression to examine how social support measured in 2006 influences mental and physical health measured in 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2018. Social support soon after Katrina was positively associated with physical health and mental health years later in 2010, even after controlling for potential confounders such as Katrina-related housing damage and pre-Katrina health and support and modeling an interaction between year and social support in 2006. Other immigrants who are highly impacted by a major disaster could benefit from programs that seek to rapidly reconstruct systems of social support.

A Qualitative Longitudinal Study of Injuries and Medical Care, Assistance, and Losses Recounted by Oklahoma City Bombing Survivors after Nearly a Quarter Century

“…This study's qualitative findings are relatively consistent with the results of a 14-year post-9/11 study of members of a registry of affected individuals, 44% of whom were injured, especially with fractures and dislocations, burns, and head injuries. 1 Long-term MH findings of the existing quantitative research on disaster survivors [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] resonate with this long-term study's qualitative findings. The 9/11 study 1 found that emotional distress and employment difficulties arising from the disaster generally improved across time; for some, however, these problems continued for long periods, changing people's lives forever.…”

“…This study's qualitative findings are relatively consistent with the results of a 14-year post-9/11 study of members of a registry of affected individuals, 44% of whom were injured, especially with fractures and dislocations, burns, and head injuries. 1 Long-term MH findings of the existing quantitative research on disaster survivors [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] resonate with this long-term study's qualitative findings. A central strength of the current study is its prospective longitudinal, post-disaster follow-up, allowing survivors to describe their experiences and outcomes over a very long period of time spanning the time of the bombing to almost a quarter of a century later.…”

“…Numerous post-disaster studies focused on MH have conducted prospective examinations of survivors' long-term MH outcomes using quantitative methods. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] A large proportion of this research designated as "long term" has followed survivors for only ≤four years or even five-to-nine years; however, follow-up durations of ≥ten years are of the greatest relevance to the current study. Quantitative studies of MH outcome trajectories from early post-disaster periods up to 10-27 years have found that psychopathology, emotional distress, and impaired functioning including employment difficulties may generally improve across time, but for some survivors, these difficulties may continue for long periods.…”

“…Quantitative studies of MH outcome trajectories from early post-disaster periods up to 10-27 years have found that psychopathology, emotional distress, and impaired functioning including employment difficulties may generally improve across time, but for some survivors, these difficulties may continue for long periods. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Almost no longitudinal research using qualitative methods as long as a decade later has been conducted to determine how surviving a terrorist attack affects people's lives long term with the richness and detail that qualitative data can provide. Open-ended interviews allow participants to recount their experience in their own words, unconstrained and undirected by the interviews, allowing collection of information beyond data from quantitative interviews limited to restricted categories.…”

Resilience within Communities of Forced Migrants: Updates and the Path Forward

“…Future work should explore how and why social support fosters resilience; what features of social support are most critical; and whether the timing of social support matters. Bui, Anglewicz, and VanLandingham (2021), using a longitudinal research design, report that social support occurring soon after (within a year of) the Katrina disaster had positive implications for survivors' mental and physical health years later, even after controlling for Katrina-related damage and for pre-disaster social support and other characteristics (Bui, Anglewicz, and VanLandingham 2021). Additionally, when measuring social support, it is important to contextualize how social support is specifically manifested within different settings.…”