The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #33341

Judith M. Siegel, PhD, MSHyg, Kimberley I. Shoaf, DrPH, and Linda B. Bourque, PhD. School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, 310-206-6442, jmsiegel@ucla.edu

A unique opportunity to address the extent to which being emotionally injured in one natural disaster influences preparedness for and emotional reaction to a subsequent disaster occurred when extreme weather conditions, due to an El Niņo pattern, were predicted in California for the Winter of 1997/1998. The anticipated disaster was well publicized, and concrete recommendations were made regarding preparedness activities that residents could (and should) do. Respondents from a population survey following the 1994 Northridge, CA earthquake were reinterviewed in 1998. Those who were emotionally injured by the earthquake did more to prepare for El Niņo than those who were not emotionally injured by the quake, controlling for respondent demographics such as dwelling type, home ownership, and age. The rates of emotional injury in El Niņo are twice as high for respondents who had an emotional injury from the Northridge event (16%) compared to those who did not (7%), even when controlling on the number of preparedness activities they performed. Path analyses on the consequences of disaster-related emotional injuries shows that a direct relationship exists between emotional injury in Northridge and reporting damage in El Niņo. These findings suggest that emotional responses to natural disasters play a pivotal role not only in mental health, but in disaster preparedness and "objective" assessments such as disaster-related damage. Implications for emotional response to human perpetrated disasters will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: