Katrina, Life Stressors, Appraisal, and Perceived Support in Posttraumatic Symptoms

There has been a need of developing a screening tool to detect posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in postdisaster settings. Disaster mental health researchers have claimed that they follow stress research for theoretical bases, which they have applied differently. We reviewed the literature for the two research fields separately to point out similar, but different, trends. We constructed a multivariable regression model by applying a heuristic model of the stress process (Cohen, Kessler, & Gordon, 1997) with a selective choice of three prominent risk/resilience factors among the stress and social correlates (Pearlin, Menaghan, Lieberman, & Mullan, 1981). According to the framed model, we assembled several self-report instruments with the best psychometrics available from the literature. A cross-sectional study was conducted of 125 residents in affected communities of the Greater New Orleans area two years after Hurricane Katrina. Participants were recruited among three sources of non-random sampling. Each participant answered a composite questionnair after indicating his or her consent on an informed consent form. Gift certificates were used as incentive. We determined sample size (N = 102) by investigating effects of item nonresponse. Demographics were compared with a general population. Analyzing collected data, we (1) confirm the appropriateness of subscales among our composite questionnaire and (2) find our model is useful to explain why not all the exposed to a disaster develop PTSD, because the combination of four predictors (Hurricane Stressors, Other Stressors, Stress Appraisal, and Perceived Support) has improved the prediction of the variance (47%) in the outcome variable (Postdisaster Symptoms).