Family Influences on the Long Term Post-Disaster Recovery of Puerto Rican Youth

Abstract

This study focused on characteristics of the family environment that may mediate the relationship between disaster exposure and the presence of symptoms that met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for symptom count and duration for an internalizing disorder in children and youth. We also explored how parental history of mental health problems may moderate this meditational model. Approximately 18 months after Hurricane Georges hit Puerto Rico in 1998, participants were randomly selected based on a probability household sample using 1990 US Census block groups. Caregivers and children (N=1,886 dyads) were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children and other questionnaires in Spanish. Areas of the family environment assessed include parent-child relationship quality, parent-child involvement, parental monitoring, discipline, parents’ relationship quality and parental mental health. SEM models were estimated for parents and children, and by age group. For children (4–10 years old), parenting variables were related to internalizing psychopathology, but did not mediate the exposure-psychopathology relationship. Exposure had a direct relationship to internalizing psychopathology. For youth (11–17 years old), some parenting variables attenuated the relation between exposure and internalizing psychopathology. Family environment factors may play a mediational role in psychopathology post-disaster among youth, compared to an additive role for children. Hurricane exposure had a significant relation to family environment for families without parental history of mental health problems, but no influence for families with a parental history of mental health problems.

Event-Related Household Discussions Following the Boston Marathon Bombing and Associated Posttraumatic Stress Among Area Youth

“…These findings are consistent with previous research showing heightened negative responses to disaster-related stimuli among older youth relative to younger children (Comer et al, 2008; Green et al, 1991), as well as work showing that adolescent symptoms, relative to the symptoms of younger children, are more likely to be influenced by family variables following a disaster (Felix, You, Vernberg, & Canino, 2013). Younger children show less sophisticated cognitive reasoning and meta-cognitive skills than older children and adolescents, and as such caregivers and professional guidelines may perceive them as needing more help comprehending and making sense of difficult events.…”

“…Prior work has shown heightened negative responses to disaster-related stimuli among older children compared to younger children (Comer et al, 2008; Green et al, 1991). Other work has shown that adolescent symptoms, relative to the symptoms of younger children, are more likely to be influenced by family variables (e.g., discipline, parent-child relationship quality, parents’ marital quality) following a disaster (Felix, You, Vernberg, & Canino, 2013). …”

“…We also predicted that 4) children whose caregivers encouraged them to focus on other, more pleasant topics would show lower PTS than children whose caregivers did not do so, and 5) that children whose caregivers introduced their own event-related fears to their children would show higher PTS than children whose caregivers did not introduce their own event-related fears to their children. Moreover, we hypothesized that 6) associations between event-related household discussions and children’s PTS would be moderated by age, such that these links would be stronger among older children relative to younger children, given evidence that older children may be more able to comprehend, as well as be frightened by, traumatic community events (Comer et al, 2008; Green et al, 1991), as well as evidence that adolescent symptoms, relative to the symptoms of younger children, are more likely to be influenced by family variables (Felix, You, Vernberg, & Canino, 2013). Finally, we hypothesized that 7) the associations between event-related household discussions and children’s PTS would be moderated by actual child exposure to the bombing and subsequent manhunt.…”

Policies on Protecting Vulnerable People During Disasters in Iran: A Document Analysis

“…In the recovery phase, the U.S. government is required to provide housing and medical and dental care to the victims of disasters, cover funeral expenses (67, 68), and offer financial support and food coupons to unemployed and low-income people (16). In addition, psychotherapy and family therapy interventions usually are needed to protect children and adolescents during the recovery phase (69). …”

Bounce Back Now! Protocol of a population-based randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of a Web-based intervention with disaster-affected families

“…The decision to include a parental component was driven by literature supporting the importance of parental monitoring and parent-child communication, as well as the impact of parents’ own mental health functioning, in mitigating risk for adolescent mental health and substance use problems (Felix, You, Vernberg, & Canino, 2013; Ryan, Jorm, & Lubman, 2010; Yap, Pilkington, Ryan, & Jorm, 2014). To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first internet accessible intervention to target the family in the post-disaster context.…”