The role of natural disaster in individual and relational adjustment in Sri Lankan mothers following the 2004 tsunami

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between maternal mental health distress symptoms, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, the extent to which the presence of a child's disaster-related physical health problem(s) have interfered with daily functioning, and family cohesion over time among Sri Lankan mothers who survived the tsunami on 26 December 2004. Study variables were measured using a self-report questionnaire administered approximately four months after the event and three years later in summer 2008. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted. Path analysis was employed to assess the relationships between the key variables over time and the correlations in the study variables at each time point. Among other findings, the results of the path analysis indicated that post-traumatic stress symptom distress four months after the disaster significantly predicted variance in family cohesion three years later. Clinical and empirical research implications are presented and discussed.

War and disaster in Sri Lanka: Implications for widows' family adjustment and perception of self‐efficacy in caring for one's family

“…Our findings are a useful step towards developing a working understanding of distress in this population in two key areas: family adjustment and strain on the felt‐sense of being able to care for and support one's family. Consistent with earlier studies, our results showed negative associations between disaster‐related losses, perceived social support and indicators of family functioning (Banford et al, ; Wickrama & Kaspar, ; Wickrama & Wickrama, , ). Our results demonstrate greater damage from the tsunami was associated with lower efficacy in being able to care for one's family.…”

“…Examples of items include: house damage ; damage to consumer household items ; vehicles / boats ; animals / birds ; social order , norms and lawfulness ; local / village social organisations . Slightly differing versions of this scale has been used with tsunami‐affected population in Sri Lanka (Banford et al, ; Wickrama & Wickrama, ). In this sample the alpha for this scale was .82.…”

“…The importance of family recovery among Sinhalese Sri Lankan women exposed to trauma has been documented (Banford et al, ; Wickrama & Wickrama, ) and needs further attention with Tamil women. Findings generally suggest that Sri Lankan women exposed to natural disaster who reported high levels of family adjustment experienced better psychological adjustment and relationship outcomes, and lower symptoms of depression and PTSD.…”

War and disaster in Sri Lanka: Depression, family adjustment and health among women heading households

“…Additionally, the particular organization and value on collective functioning in Sri Lanka make family relationships and social support paramount to understanding mental health (Wickrama & Wickrama, 2008). The concept of heavily valuing collectivism in families, sometimes referred to as familism (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001), has been explored as a resource and potential buffer in the effects of the tsunami on Sri Lankan survivors and has been evaluated as an outcome in research with disaster-affected communities (Banford et al, 2016).…”