Krzysztof Kaniasty

60,000 Disaster Victims Speak: Part I. An Empirical Review of the Empirical Literature, 1981—2001

Abstract Results for 160 samples of disaster victims were coded as to sample type, disaster type, disaster location, outcomes and risk factors observed, and overall severity of impairment. In order of frequency, outcomes included specific psychological problems, nonspecific distress, health problems, chronic problems in living, resource loss, and problems specific to youth. Regression analyses showed that samples were more likely to be impaired if they were composed of youth rather than adults, were from developing rather than developed countries, or experienced mass violence (e.g., terrorism, shooting sprees) rather than natural or technological disasters. Most samples of rescue and recovery workers showed remarkable resilience. Within adult samples, more severe exposure, female gender, middle age, ethnic minority status, secondary stressors, prior psychiatric problems, and weak or deteriorating psychosocial resources most consistently increased the likelihood of adverse outcomes. Among youth, family factors were primary. Implications of the research for clinical practice and community intervention are discussed in a companion article (Norris, Friedman, and Watson, this volume).

Received and perceived social support in times of stress: a test of the social support deterioration deterrence model.

The authors evaluated the impact of receiving social support on subsequent levels of perceived social support and psychological distress in 2 independent samples of victims of severe natural disasters: Hurricane Hugo (n = 498) and Hurricane Andrew (n = 404). A social support deterioration deterrence model was proposed that stipulated that postdisaster mobilization of received support counteracts the deterioration in expectations of support often experienced by victims of major life events. LISREL analyses of data collected 12 and 24 months after Hugo and 6 and 28 months after Andrew provided strong evidence for the hypothesized model: Perceived support mediated the long-term effects on distress of both scope of disaster exposure and postdisaster received support. Theoretical and application issues of social support are discussed.

In search of altruistic community: Patterns of social support mobilization following Hurricane Hugo.

Twelve months after Hurricane Hugo, 1,000 disaster victims and nonvictims were asked about social support they exchanged following the hurricane. Victims of disaster received and provided very high levels of tangible, informationa, and emotional support. Disaster exposure (loss and harm) was a strong predictor of help received and a modest predictor of help provided. However, postdisaster help was not distributed equally and disaster exposure was more strongly related to social support in some groups than in others. Race, education, and age most consistently moderated the impact of disaster exposure on receipt of postdisaster support. Blacks and less educated victims received less help than similarly affected victims who were white or more educated. Relative disadvantage of being old in receiving support was not the case for those elderly disaster victims who experienced threats to their lives or health. Some subgroups of victims were relied upon disproportionately for providing assistance. Implications for social support research are addressed.

Longitudinal linkages between perceived social support and posttraumatic stress symptoms: Sequential roles of social causation and social selection

The authors examined social causation and social selection explanations for the association between perceptions of social support and psychological distress. Data came from a sample of 557 victims of natural disaster in Mexico. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that social causation (more social support leading to less posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) explained the support-to-distress relationship in the earlier postdisaster phase, 6 to 12 months after the impact. Both causal mechanisms emerged as significant paths in the midpoint of the study (12 and 18 months). Only social selection (more PTSD leading to less social support) accounted for the support-to-distress relationship at 18 to 24 months after the event. Interpersonal and social dynamics of disasters may explain why these two contrasting causal mechanisms emerged over time.

Stability and change in stress, resources, and psychological distress following natural disaster: Findings from hurricane Andrew

Abstract The stress, resource, and symptom levels of 241 residents of southern Dade County, Florida were assessed 6 and 30 months after Hurricane Andrew. Percentages meeting study criteria for depression and PTSD did not change over time. Whereas mean levels of intrusion and arousal decreased, depressive symptoms remained stable, and avoidance/numbing symptoms actually increased. Intrusion and arousal were associated more strongly with pre-disaster factors (gender, ethnicity) and within-disaster factors (injury, property loss) than with post-disaster factors (stress, resources), but the reverse was true for depression and avoidance. Changes over time in symptoms were largely explained by changes over time in stress and resources. The findings indicate that ongoing services are needed to supplement the crisis-oriented assistance typically offered to disaster victims.

Psychological distress following criminal victimization in the general population: cross-sectional, longitudinal, and prospective analyses.

Samples of 105 violent crime victims, 227 property crime victims, and 190 nonvictims provided normative data regarding levels of psychological distress following criminal victimization. At points approximately 3 months, 9 months, and 15 months postcrime, symptoms of depression, somatization, hostility, anxiety, phobic anxiety, fear of crime, and avoidance were assessed. Although crime victims showed substantial improvement between 3 and 9 months, thereafter they did not. Over the course of the study, violent crime victims remained more distressed than did property crime victims who, in turn, remained more distressed than nonvictims. Regression analyses revealed that the effects of crime could not be accounted for by precrime differences between victims and nonvictims in either social status or psychological functioning. However, lasting effects were often contingent on the occurrence of subsequent crimes.

Help-Seeking Comfort and Receiving Social Support: The Role of Ethnicity and Context of Need

Examined help-seeking comfort and receiving social support among Latinos, African Americans, and European Americans across two contexts: in a communitywide emergency (Hurricane Andrew) and 2 years later in a nonemergency situation. In general, help-seeking comfort was a strong predictor of received support. Notwithstanding many similarities between the groups, the effects of ethnicity differed according to the context. In emergency, all groups reported similarly high levels of help-seeking comfort and received support. In nonemergency, help-seeking comfort declined for blacks and whites but not for Latinos. Although all ethnic groups reported receiving less social support in nonemergency, the decline in received support across contexts was most dramatic for Latinos. Situational, cultural, and differential resource loss explanations are offered to account for the findings.

Social support and victims of crime: Matching event, support, and outcome

Investigated the buffering properties of six types of social support (three perceived, three received) with regard to four psychological consequences (depression, anxiety, fear of crime, hostility) of criminal victimization (violent crime, property crime). These relationships were examined using longitudinal data collected from a sample composed of representative subsamples of victims and nonvictims. Effects of the perceived support measures (perceived appraisal support, perceived tangible support, self-esteem) were more pervasive than those of the received support measures (received informational support, received tangible support, received emotional support). Perceived support consistently exhibited buffering effects, protecting both violent and property crime victims against various symptoms they would have otherwise experienced. The stress-buffering capabilities of received support were limited to informational and tangible help protecting victims of violence from experiencing excessive fear. These findings are discussed in the context of recent theoretical developments concerning the stress-support matching hypothesis.

The impact of natural disaster on the health of older adults: a multiwave prospective study

As participants in a panel study, over 200 older adults were interviewed both before and after each of two floods that occurred in southeastern Kentucky in 1981 and 1984. The present study examined the impact offlood exposure on the physical health of this sample over five follow-up interviews. The major findings were as follows: first, flood exposure was related to modest health declines in this sample. Second, symptomatic reactions to the less severe flood appeared to be seasonal, peaking in the first spring after the incident, decreasing by that fall, then increasing to a lesser degree the following spring. This seasonal trend was found only for those who had experienced both high personal losses and high community destruction in the floods. It was not a general seasonal health trend among the older adult sample. Third, the persistence of health effects was related directly to flood intensity.

A longitudinal study of the effects of various crime prevention strategies on criminal victimization, fear of crime, and psychological distress

Examined the effects of precautionary behavior on subsequent criminal victimization, fear of crime, and psychological distress. A sample of 538 adults was interviewed three times at 6-month intervals. Four different aspects of precaution were assessed: vigilance (alertness), locks (access control), neighbors (informal cooperation), and professionals (formal programs). In logistic regressions that controlled for 14 risk factors, precaution had no preventive effects on the occurrence of subsequent crimes. LISREL models revealed that use of neighbors was the only precaution not to increase fear of crime, although both locks and neighbors showed a capacity to buffer the effects of fear on generalized distress. It was concluded that the most promising strategy was protective neighboring. Altogether, however, the promotion of citizen-initiated prevention appears highly inadequate as a policy response to problems of crime and fear.