IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0125761.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychological Resilience after Hurricane Sandy: The Influence of Individual- and Community-Level Factors on Mental Health after a Large-Scale Natural Disaster

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah R Lowe
  • Laura Sampson
  • Oliver Gruebner
  • Sandro Galea

Abstract

Several individual-level factors are known to promote psychological resilience in the aftermath of disasters. Far less is known about the role of community-level factors in shaping postdisaster mental health. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of both individual- and community-level factors on resilience after Hurricane Sandy. A representative sample of household residents (N = 418) from 293 New York City census tracts that were most heavily affected by the storm completed telephone interviews approximately 13–16 months postdisaster. Multilevel multivariable models explored the independent and interactive contributions of individual- and community-level factors to posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms. At the individual-level, having experienced or witnessed any lifetime traumatic event was significantly associated with higher depression and posttraumatic stress, whereas demographic characteristics (e.g., older age, non-Hispanic Black race) and more disaster-related stressors were significantly associated with higher posttraumatic stress only. At the community-level, living in an area with higher social capital was significantly associated with higher posttraumatic stress. Additionally, higher community economic development was associated with lower risk of depression only among participants who did not experience any disaster-related stressors. These results provide evidence that individual- and community-level resources and exposure operate in tandem to shape postdisaster resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah R Lowe & Laura Sampson & Oliver Gruebner & Sandro Galea, 2015. "Psychological Resilience after Hurricane Sandy: The Influence of Individual- and Community-Level Factors on Mental Health after a Large-Scale Natural Disaster," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0125761
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125761
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125761
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125761&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0125761?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Norris, Fran H. & Tracy, Melissa & Galea, Sandro, 2009. "Looking for resilience: Understanding the longitudinal trajectories of responses to stress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2190-2198, June.
    2. Wind, Tim R. & Komproe, Ivan H., 2012. "The mechanisms that associate community social capital with post-disaster mental health: A multilevel model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1715-1720.
    3. Phongsavan, Philayrath & Chey, Tien & Bauman, Adrian & Brooks, Robert & Silove, Derrick, 2006. "Social capital, socio-economic status and psychological distress among Australian adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(10), pages 2546-2561, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rebecca M. Schwartz & Christina N. Gillezeau & Bian Liu & Wil Lieberman-Cribbin & Emanuela Taioli, 2017. "Longitudinal Impact of Hurricane Sandy Exposure on Mental Health Symptoms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-12, August.
    2. Gemma Sou, 2019. "Sustainable resilience? Disaster recovery and the marginalization of sociocultural needs and concerns," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 19(2), pages 144-159, April.
    3. Gallagher, H. Colin & Block, Karen & Gibbs, Lisa & Forbes, David & Lusher, Dean & Molyneaux, Robyn & Richardson, John & Pattison, Philippa & MacDougall, Colin & Bryant, Richard A., 2019. "The effect of group involvement on post-disaster mental health: A longitudinal multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 167-175.
    4. Ahmadiani, Mona & Ferreira, Susana, 2021. "Well-being effects of extreme weather events in the United States," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Kevin M. Fitzpatrick & Don E. Willis & Matthew L. Spialek & Emily English, 2020. "Food Insecurity in the Post-Hurricane Harvey Setting: Risks and Resources in the Midst of Uncertainty," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-16, November.
    6. Pruchno, Rachel & Wilson-Genderson, Maureen & Heid, Allison R. & Cartwright, Francine P., 2021. "Effects of peri-traumatic stress experienced during Hurricane Sandy on functional limitation trajectories for older men and women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    7. Sonja I. Garske & Suzanne Elayan & Martin Sykora & Tamar Edry & Linus B. Grabenhenrich & Sandro Galea & Sarah R. Lowe & Oliver Gruebner, 2021. "Space-Time Dependence of Emotions on Twitter after a Natural Disaster," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-13, May.
    8. Fitzpatrick, Kevin M., 2021. "Post-traumatic stress symptomatology and displacement among Hurricane Harvey survivors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    9. Wilson-Genderson, Maureen & Heid, Allison R. & Pruchno, Rachel, 2018. "Long-term effects of disaster on depressive symptoms: Type of exposure matters," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 84-91.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lowe, Sarah R. & Joshi, Spruha & Pietrzak, Robert H. & Galea, Sandro & Cerdá, Magdalena, 2015. "Mental health and general wellness in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 162-170.
    2. Tim R. Wind & Ichiro Kawachi & Ivan H. Komproe, 2021. "Multilevel Social Mechanisms of Post-Disaster Depression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-8, January.
    3. Fiona Cocker & Angela Martin & Jenn Scott & Alison Venn & Kristy Sanderson, 2013. "Psychological Distress, Related Work Attendance, and Productivity Loss in Small-to-Medium Enterprise Owner/Managers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-21, October.
    4. Mooli Lahad & Ran Cohen & Stratos Fanaras & Dmitry Leykin & Penny Apostolopoulou, 2018. "Resiliency and Adjustment in Times of Crisis, the Case of the Greek Economic Crisis from a Psycho-social and Community Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 333-356, January.
    5. Sarah R Lowe & Ethan J Raker & Mary C Waters & Jean E Rhodes, 2020. "Predisaster predictors of posttraumatic stress symptom trajectories: An analysis of low-income women in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Fernando Olivares-Delgado & Patricia P. Iglesias-Sánchez & María Teresa Benlloch-Osuna & Carlos de las Heras-Pedrosa & Carmen Jambrino-Maldonado, 2020. "Resilience and Anti-Stress during COVID-19 Isolation in Spain: An Analysis through Audiovisual Spots," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-23, November.
    7. Etilé, Fabrice & Frijters, Paul & Johnston, David W. & Shields, Michael A., 2021. "Measuring resilience to major life events," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 598-619.
    8. Gallagher, H. Colin & Block, Karen & Gibbs, Lisa & Forbes, David & Lusher, Dean & Molyneaux, Robyn & Richardson, John & Pattison, Philippa & MacDougall, Colin & Bryant, Richard A., 2019. "The effect of group involvement on post-disaster mental health: A longitudinal multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 167-175.
    9. Megan Teychenne & Kylie Ball & Jo Salmon, 2012. "Educational Inequalities in Women’s Depressive Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Perceived Neighbourhood Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-13, November.
    10. Yun-Hsuan Wu & Kellee White & Nancy L Fleischer & Bo Cai & Shing-Chia Chen & Spencer Moore, 2018. "Network-based and cohesion-based social capital and variations in depressive symptoms among Taiwanese adults," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 64(8), pages 726-736, December.
    11. Jae-Young Lim & Hyun-Hoon Lee & Yeon-Hee Hwang, 2011. "Trust on doctor, social capital and medical care use of the elderly," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 12(2), pages 175-188, April.
    12. Landstedt, Evelina & Almquist, Ylva B. & Eriksson, Malin & Hammarström, Anne, 2016. "Disentangling the directions of associations between structural social capital and mental health: Longitudinal analyses of gender, civic engagement and depressive symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 135-143.
    13. Ester Villalonga-Olives & Josue Almansa & Cheryl L. Knott & Yusuf Ransome, 2020. "Social capital and health status: longitudinal race and ethnicity differences in older adults from 2006 to 2014," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(3), pages 291-302, April.
    14. Fang-Yi Tsai & Hannah Schillok & Michaela Coenen & Christina Merkel & Caroline Jung-Sievers & on behalf of the COSMO Study Group, 2022. "The Well-Being of the German Adult Population Measured with the WHO-5 over Different Phases of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis within the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring Study (COSMO)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-27, March.
    15. Ran, Liuyi & Wang, Wo & Ai, Ming & Kong, Yiting & Chen, Jianmei & Kuang, Li, 2020. "Psychological resilience, depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms in response to COVID-19: A study of the general population in China at the peak of its epidemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    16. Bowling, Ann & Stafford, Mai, 2007. "How do objective and subjective assessments of neighbourhood influence social and physical functioning in older age? Findings from a British survey of ageing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 2533-2549, June.
    17. Sehee Han & Heaseung Kim & Hee-Sun Lee, 2013. "A Multilevel Analysis of the Compositional and Contextual Association of Social Capital and Subjective Well-Being in Seoul, South Korea," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 185-202, March.
    18. Cerin, Ester & Leslie, Eva & Owen, Neville, 2009. "Explaining socio-economic status differences in walking for transport: An ecological analysis of individual, social and environmental factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1013-1020, March.
    19. Bukola G. Olutola & Olalekan A. Ayo-Yusuf, 2012. "Socio-Environmental Factors Associated with Self-Rated Oral Health in South Africa: A Multilevel Effects Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-19, October.
    20. Gökçearslan, Şahin & Uluyol, Çelebi & Şahin, Sami, 2018. "Smartphone addiction, cyberloafing, stress and social support among university students: A path analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 47-54.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0125761. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.