Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T10:53:58.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

When Natural Disaster Follows Economic Downturn: The Incremental Impact of Multiple Stressor Events on Trajectories of Depression and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2018

Amar D. Mandavia  and
George A. Bonanno
Amar D. Mandavia
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York
George A. Bonanno*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to George Bonanno, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th St., 426B Horace Mann, New York, NY 10027 (e-mail: gab38@columbia.edu).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

To determine whether there were incremental mental health impacts, specifically on depression trajectories, as a result of the 2008 economic crisis (the Great Recession) and subsequent Hurricane Sandy.

Method

Using latent growth mixture modeling and the ORANJ BOWL dataset, we examined prospective trajectories of depression among older adults (mean age, 60.67; SD, 6.86) who were exposed to the 2 events. We also collected community economic and criminal justice data to examine their impact upon depression trajectories. Participants (N=1172) were assessed at 3 times for affect, successful aging, and symptoms of depression. We additionally assessed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology after Hurricane Sandy.

Results

We identified 3 prospective trajectories of depression. The majority (83.6%) had no significant change in depression from before to after these events (resilience), while 7.2% of the sample increased in depression incrementally after each event (incremental depression). A third group (9.2%) went from high to low depression symptomology following the 2 events (depressive-improving). Only those in the incremental depression group had significant PTSD symptoms following Hurricane Sandy.

Conclusion

We identified a small group of individuals for whom the experience of multiple stressful events had an incremental negative effect on mental health outcomes. These results highlight the importance of understanding the perseveration of depression symptomology from one event to another. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:173–182)

Keywords

hurricanemental disorderposttraumatic stress disorder
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 173 - 182
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Swagel, P. The cost of the financial crisis: the impact of the September 2008 economic collapse. Pew Charitable Trust Economic Policy Group Briefing Paper No. 18. http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2010/04/28/costofthecrisisfinal.pdf. Accessed February 2, 2017.Google Scholar
2. Smith AB, Katz RW. US billion-dollar weather and climate disasters: data sources, trends, accuracy and biases. Nat Hazards. 2013;67(2):387-410.Google Scholar
3. Frasquilho, D, Matos, MG, Salonna, F, et al. Mental health outcomes in times of economic recession: a systematic literature review. BMC Public Health. 2015;16(1):115.Google Scholar
4. McLoyd, VC. The impact of economic hardship on Black families and children: psychological distress, parenting, and socioemotional development. Child Dev. 1990;61(2):311-346.Google Scholar
5. Reeves, A, Stuckler, D, McKee, M, et al. Increase in state suicide rates in the USA during economic recession. Lancet. 2012;380(9856):1813-1814.Google Scholar
6. Dee, TS. Alcohol abuse and economic conditions: evidence from repeated cross‐sections of individual‐level data. Health Econ. 2001;10(3):257-270.Google Scholar
7. Gili, M, Roca, M, Basu, S, et al. The mental health risks of economic crisis in Spain: evidence from primary care centres, 2006 and 2010. Eur J Public Health. 2013;23(1):103-108.Google Scholar
8. Stuckler, D, Basu, S, Suhrcke, M, et al. The public health effect of economic crises and alternative policy responses in Europe: an empirical analysis. Lancet. 2009;374(9686):315-323.Google Scholar
9. Van Griensven, F, Chakkraband, MS, Thienkrua, W, et al. Mental health problems among adults in tsunami-affected areas in southern Thailand. JAMA. 2006;296(5):537-548.Google Scholar
10. Bonanno, GA, Brewin, CR, Kaniasty, K, et al. Weighing the costs of disaster: consequences, risks, and resilience in individuals, families, and communities. Psychol Sci Public Interest. 2010;11(1):1-49.Google Scholar
11. Norris, FH, Friedman, MJ, Watson, PJ, et al. 60,000 disaster victims speak: part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981–2001. Psychiatry. 2002;65(3):207-239.Google Scholar
12. Heid, AR, Christman, Z, Pruchno, R, et al. Vulnerable, But Why? Post-traumatic stress symptoms in older adults exposed to Hurricane Sandy. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2016;10(3):362-370.Google Scholar
13. Heid, AR, Pruchno, R, Cartwright, FP, et al. Exposure to Hurricane Sandy, neighborhood collective efficacy, and post-traumatic stress symptoms in older adults. Aging Ment Health. 2016;21(7):1-9.Google Scholar
14. Schwartz, RM, Gillezeau, CN, Liu, B, et al. Longitudinal impact of Hurricane Sandy exposure on mental health symptoms. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(9):957.Google Scholar
15. Schwartz, RM, Sison, C, Kerath, SM, et al. The impact of Hurricane Sandy on the mental health of New York area residents. Am J Disaster Med. 2017;10(4):339-346.Google Scholar
16. Lowe, SR, Sampson, L, Gruebner, O, et al. Psychological resilience after Hurricane Sandy: the influence of individual-and community-level factors on mental health after a large-scale natural disaster. PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0125761.Google Scholar
17. Burgard, SA, Ailshire, JA, Kalousova, L. The Great Recession and health: people, populations, and disparities. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 2013;650(1):194-213.Google Scholar
18. Cagney, KA, Browning, CR, Iveniuk, J, et al. The onset of depression during the great recession: foreclosure and older adult mental health. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(3):498-505.Google Scholar
19. Dávalos, ME, French, MT. This recession is wearing me out! Health-related quality of life and economic downturns. J Ment Health Policy Econ. 2011;14(2):61-72.Google Scholar
20. Andresen, MA. Unemployment and crime: a neighborhood level panel data approach. Soc Sci Res. 2012;41(6):1615-1628.Google Scholar
21. Phillips, J, Land, KC. The link between unemployment and crime rate fluctuations: an analysis at the county, state, and national levels. Soc Sci Res. 2012;41(3):681-694.Google Scholar
22. Raphael, S, Winter-Ebmer, R. Identifying the effect of unemployment on crime. J Law Econ. 2001;44(1):259-283.Google Scholar
23. Bonanno, GA, Wortman, CB, Lehman, DR, et al. Resilience to loss and chronic grief: a prospective study from preloss to 18-months postloss. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2002;83(5):1150.Google Scholar
24. Bonanno, GA, Mancini, AD. Beyond resilience and PTSD: mapping the heterogeneity of responses to potential trauma. Psychol Trauma. 2012;4(1):74.Google Scholar
25. Bonanno, GA, Mancini, AD, Horton, JL, et al. Trajectories of trauma symptoms and resilience in deployed US military service members: prospective cohort study. Br J Psychiatry. 2012;200(4):317-323.Google Scholar
26. Galatzer-Levy, IR, Bonanno, GA. Optimism and death predicting the course and consequences of depression trajectories in response to heart attack. Psychol Sci. 2014;25(12):2177-2188.Google Scholar
27. Galatzer-Levy, IR, Bonanno, GA, Mancini, AD. From marianthal to latent growth mixture modeling: a return to the exploration of individual differences in response to unemployment. J Neuroscience Psychology Econ. 2010;3(2):116.Google Scholar
28. Norris, FH, Tracy, M, Galea, S. Looking for resilience: understanding the longitudinal trajectories of responses to stress. Soc Sci Med. 2009;68(12):2190-2198.Google Scholar
29. Bonanno, GA, Westphal, M, Mancini, AD. Resilience to loss and potential trauma. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2011;7:511-535.Google Scholar
30. Bonanno, GA, Romero, SA, Klein, SI. The temporal elements of psychological resilience: an integrative framework for the study of individuals, families, and communities. Psychol Inq. 2015;26(2):139-169.Google Scholar
31. Bonanno, GA. Loss, trauma, and human resilience: have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? Am Psychol. 2004;59(1):20.Google Scholar
32. Burton, CL, Galatzer-Levy, IR, Bonanno, GA. Treatment type and demographic characteristics as predictors for cancer adjustment: prospective trajectories of depressive symptoms in a population sample. Health Psychol. 2015;34(6):602.Google Scholar
33. Dickstein, BD, Suvak, M, Litz, BT, et al. Heterogeneity in the course of posttraumatic stress disorder: trajectories of symptomatology. J Trauma Stress. 2010;23(3):331-339.Google Scholar
34. Galatzer-Levy, IR, Bonanno, GA. Beyond normality in the study of bereavement: heterogeneity in depression outcomes following loss in older adults. Soc Sci Med. 2012;74(12):1987-1994.Google Scholar
35. Mancini, JA, Bowen, GL, O’Neal, CW, et al. Relationship provisions, self-efficacy and youth well-being in military families. J Appl Dev Psychol. 2015;40:17-25.Google Scholar
36. Maccallum, F, Galatzer-Levy, IR, Bonanno, GA. Trajectories of depression following spousal and child bereavement: A comparison of the heterogeneity in outcomes. J Psychiatr Res. 2015;69:72-79.Google Scholar
37. Zhu, Z, Galatzer-Levy, IR, Bonanno, GA. Heterogeneous depression responses to chronic pain onset among middle-aged adults: a prospective study. Psychiatry Res. 2014;217(1):60-66.Google Scholar
38. Morin, RT, Galatzer-Levy, IR, Maccallum, F, et al. Do multiple health events reduce resilience when compared with single events? Health Psychol. 2017;36(8):721-728.Google Scholar
39. Lowe, SR, Sampson, L, Gruebner, O, et al. Community unemployment and disaster‐related stressors shape risk for posttraumatic stress in the longer‐term aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. J Trauma Stress. 2016;29(5):440-447.Google Scholar
40. Caramanica, K, Brackbill, RM, Stellman, SD, et al. Posttraumatic stress disorder after Hurricane Sandy among persons exposed to the 9/11 disaster. Int J Emerg Ment Health. 2015;17(1):356.Google Scholar
41. Pietrzak, RH, Goldstein, RB, Southwick, SM, et al. Psychiatric comorbidity of full and partial posttraumatic stress disorder among older adults in the United States: results from wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012;20(5):380-390.Google Scholar
42. Van Zelst, WH, de Beurs, E, Beekman, AT, et al. Prevalence and risk factors of posttraumatic stress disorder in older adults. Psychother Psychosom. 2003;72(6):333-342.Google Scholar
43. Acierno, R, Ruggiero, KJ, Kilpatrick, DG, et al. Risk and protective factors for psychopathology among older versus younger adults after the 2004 Florida hurricanes. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006;14(12):1051-1059.Google Scholar
44. Wilson-Genderson, M, Pruchno, R, Heid, AR. Modeling successful aging over time in the context of a disaster. J Gerontol B. 2016;72(2):328-339.Google Scholar
45. Pruchno, RA, Wilson-Genderson, M, Rose, M, et al. Successful aging: early influences and contemporary characteristics. Gerontologist. 2010;50(6):821-833.Google Scholar
46. Carpiano, RM. Neighborhood social capital and adult health: an empirical test of a Bourdieu-based model. Health Place. 2007;13(3):639-655.Google Scholar
47. Radloff, LS. The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas. 1977;1(3):385-401.Google Scholar
48. Björgvinsson, T, Kertz, SJ, Bigda-Peyton, JS, et al. Psychometric properties of the CES-D-10 in a psychiatric sample. Assessment. 2013;20(4):429-436.Google Scholar
49. Andresen, EM, Malmgren, JA, Carter, WB, et al. Screening for depression in well older adults: evaluation of. Prev Med. 1994;10:77-84.Google Scholar
50. Watson, D, Clark, LA, Tellegen, A. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988;54(6):1063.Google Scholar
51. Thompson, ER. Development and validation of an internationally reliable short-form of the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS). J Cross Cult Psychol. 2007;38(2):227-242.Google Scholar
52. Pruchno, RA, Wilson-Genderson, M, Cartwright, F. A two-factor model of successful aging. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2010;65(6):671-679.Google Scholar
53. Foa, EB, Riggs, DS, Dancu, CV, et al. Reliability and validity of a brief instrument for assessing post‐traumatic stress disorder. J Trauma Stress. 1993;6(4):459-473.Google Scholar
54. Coffey, SF, Dansky, BS, Falsetti, SA, et al. Screening for PTSD in a substance abuse sample: psychometric properties of a modified version of the PTSD Symptom Scale Self-Report. J Trauma Stress. 1998;11(2):393-399.Google Scholar
55. New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police Advisory Representative on Uniform Crime Reporting. Report. http://www.njsp.org/ucr/uniform-crime-reports.shtml. Accessed April 1, 2016.Google Scholar
56. Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce. https://www.bea.gov/iTable/index_regional.cfm. Accessed March 16, 2016.Google Scholar
57. Office of Research and Information, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Economic and Demographic Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/lpa/tools/datatools_index.html. Accessed February 25, 2016.Google Scholar
58. Mapping and Analysis Center, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Declaration FD, DR-4086 2012. https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1859-25045-4290/dhs_ocfc_pda_report_fema_4086_dr_nj__expedited_.pdf. Accessed March 23, 2016.Google Scholar
59. Abramson, D, Van Alst, D, Merdjanoff, A, et al, Evacuation decisions, housing issues and sense of community. The Place Report: Sandy Child And Family Health Study Briefing Report No. 1. New York: Columbia University National Center for Disaster Preparedness.; 2015.Google Scholar
60. Muthén, BO. Mplus technical appendices. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén; 1998.Google Scholar
61. Enders, CK. The impact of nonnormality on full information maximum-likelihood estimation for structural equation models with missing data. Psychol Methods. 2001;6(4):352.Google Scholar
62. Muthén, B, Kaplan, D, Hollis, M. On structural equation modeling with data that are not missing completely at random. Psychometrika. 1987;52(3):431-462.Google Scholar
63. Muthén, B. Statistical and substantive checking in growth mixture modeling: comment on Bauer and Curran Psychol Methods. 2003;8(3):369-377. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X.8.3.369.Google Scholar
64. Jung, T, Wickrama, K. An introduction to latent class growth analysis and growth mixture modeling. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2008;2(1):302-317.Google Scholar
65. Breslau, N, Peterson, EL, Schultz, LR. A second look at prior trauma and the posttraumatic stress disorder effects of subsequent trauma: a prospective epidemiological study. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(4):431-437.Google Scholar
66. Sampson, RJ, Morenoff, JD, Gannon-Rowley, T. Assessing “neighborhood effects”: social processes and new directions in research. Annu Rev Sociol. 2002;28(1):443-478.Google Scholar
67. Hikichi, H, Aida, J, Tsuboya, T, et al. Can community social cohesion prevent posttraumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of a disaster? A natural experiment from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Am J Epidemiol. 2016;183(10):902-910.Google Scholar
68. Curry, A, Latkin, C, Davey-Rothwell, M. Pathways to depression: the impact of neighborhood violent crime on inner-city residents in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Soc Sci Med. 2008;67(1):23-30.Google Scholar
69. Wilson-Genderson, M, Pruchno, R. Effects of neighborhood violence and perceptions of neighborhood safety on depressive symptoms of older adults. Soc Sci Med. 2013;85:43-49.Google Scholar
70. Norris, FH, Kaniasty, K. Psychological distress following criminal victimization in the general population: cross-sectional, longitudinal, and prospective analysis. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1994 Feb;62(1):111-123.Google Scholar