Online Program

331230
Population Mental Health After Acute Collective Stressors: A Cross-Cohort Comparison of Large-Scale Natural and Technological Disasters


Wednesday, November 4, 2015 : 9:10 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

David Abramson, PhD MPH, Global Institute of Public Health, New York University, New York, NY
Alexis Merdjanoff, PhD, College of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY
Rachael Piltch-Loeb, MSPH, Global Institute of Public Health, New York University, New York, NY
Background:  Disasters disrupt both formal and informal organizational and social systems, with impacts extending across the socio-economic spectrum.  Disasters often provide a natural experiment to examine the health impacts of an acute collective stressor on a population.  This cross-cohort comparison assesses the mental health status of three disaster-exposed populations during a mid-term recovery phase, two to three years after the acute collective stressor.  The model controls for a range of disaster exposure, from minimal to severe, and explores the contribution of both formal and informal systems to long-term mental health outcomes.

Methods:  The three randomly sampled cohorts include the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health Study, a longitudinal cohort (n=1079) of displaced and heavily-affected Louisiana and Mississippi adults, post Katrina; the Sandy Child and Family Health Study (n=1,000) a random population sample of an exposed population in nine New Jersey counties; and the Gulf Coast Population Impact Project, a cross-sectional household survey (n=1,437) of residents in four Gulf Coast states exposed to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  In-person surveys were conducted 2-3 years after the event.

Findings:  The prevalence of mental health distress varied by cohort, although each independent cohort produced results suggesting enduring mental health effects among exposed populations.  There was a strong association between the magnitude of disaster exposure and mental health effects, independent of lower socio-economic status.

Implications:  Cross-disaster analyses promote generalizability beyond a single disaster.  This analysis illuminates the relationship between organizational and social systems and population mental health.

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe generalizable impacts of disasters on population mental health, regardless as to disaster context; Demonstrate techniques for conducting cross-cohort analyses

Keyword(s): Disasters, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator for all of the studies referenced in this abstract. I have overseen the research protocols, data collection, and analyses on all of these studies, and have been conducting such longitudinal observational research for over twenty years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.