The emotional cost of distance: Geographic social network dispersion and post-traumatic stress among survivors of Hurricane Katrina

Abstract

Rationale Social networks offer important emotional and instrumental support following natural disasters. However, displacement may geographically disperse network members, making it difficult to provide and receive support necessary for psychological recovery after trauma. Objectives We examine associations between distance to network members and post-traumatic stress using survey data, and identify potential mechanisms underlying this association using in-depth qualitative interviews. Methods We use longitudinal, mixed-methods data from the Resilience in Survivors of Katrina (RISK) Project to capture the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on low-income mothers from New Orleans. Baseline surveys occurred approximately one year before the storm and follow-up surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted five years later. We use a sequential explanatory analytic design. With logistic regression, we estimate the association of geographic network dispersion with the likelihood of post-traumatic stress. With linear regressions, we estimate the association of network dispersion with the three post-traumatic stress sub-scales. Using maximal variation sampling, we use qualitative interview data to elaborate identified statistical associations. Results We find network dispersion is positively associated with the likelihood of post-traumatic stress, controlling for individual-level socio-demographic characteristics, exposure to hurricane-related trauma, perceived social support, and New Orleans residency. We identify two social-psychological mechanisms present in qualitative data: respondents with distant network members report a lack of deep belonging and a lack of mattering as they are unable to fulfill obligations to important distant ties. Conclusion Results indicate the importance of physical proximity to emotionally-intimate network ties for long-term psychological recovery.

Posttraumatic growth in low-income Black mothers who survived Hurricane Katrina.

“…Notably, poor female Americans of color are likely to experience the most extreme adverse impacts of climate change and natural disaster. Disruption of familial and social ties after disaster and displacement carries significant personal costs, particularly for low-income mothers who may rely on these ties for emotional support, as well as childcare and other needs (Morris & Deterding, 2016). Providers should be particularly attentive to disaster survivors’ needs for support in these areas.…”

Flexible Coding of In-depth Interviews: A Twenty-first-century Approach

“…Because of the mandates of Federal funding sources—and the historical importance of the topic—data archiving for secondary analysis was a concern from the start of the project (Waters 2016). While the RISK project may be of unusual size and scope, including the opportunity to match survey responses to interview transcripts (Deterding 2015a; Morris and Deterding 2016), many of the challenges we faced are common to large-scale interview studies.…”

“…In our recent work, we have used this process for organizing qualitative analysis with a research team, which included scholars from different disciplines writing about many separate topics. The RISK qualitative data have been used to examine physical and mental health outcomes of Katrina (Bosick 2015; Lowe, Rhodes, and Waters 2015; Morris and Deterding 2016); experiences of racism during the hurricane and its aftermath (Lowe, Lustig, and Marrow 2011); changes in marital and partner relationships (Lowe, Rhodes, and Scoglio 2012); residential choices and social mobility (Asad 2015); posthurricane (im)migration and race relations (Tollette 2013); and educational planning and return (Deterding 2015a). Other methodological treatments of team-based coding focus on the intercoder reliability of analytic codes in a single study, which is noted as a very time-intensive iterative process (Campbell et al 2013; Price and Smith 2017).…”

“…In mixed-methods data, attributes can include person-level data from respondent screening sheets, demographic information sheets, or surveys. For instance, using the RISK data, we connected longitudinal survey responses to transcripts using NVivo Version 10 “classification sheets,” allowing us to describe qualitative mechanisms for mental health differences among survey respondents with proximal and distant social networks (Morris and Deterding 2016). Attributes may not be limited to person-level characteristics; other units of analysis are possible.…”

The Prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Survivors After a Typhoon or Hurricane: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…According to the subgroup analyses, the combined prevalence of PTSD among survivors of a hurricane and typhoon was 41.74% (95% CI: 29.81%, 54.18%), 21.16% (95% CI: 16.23%, 26.55%), 4.4% (95% CI: 1.44%, 8.8%), and 14.04% (95% CI: 4.05%, 28.68%) for Category-5, 16,17 Category-4, 3,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Category-2, 7,10 and Category-1 36-39 storms, respectively. There was no study that focused on the Category-3 storm.…”