Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T09:50:35.609Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Predictors of Individual Resilience Characteristics Among Individuals Ages 65 and Older in Post-Disaster Settings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2018

Jessica Liddell  and
Regardt J. Ferreira
Jessica Liddell*
Affiliation:
City, Culture and Community PhD Program, School of Social Work, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Regardt J. Ferreira
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Ms Jessica Liddell, School of Social Work, Tulane University, 127 Elk Place, New Orleans, LA 70112-2627 (e-mail: [email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

Literature explores which factors most impact resilience and how these factors impact an individual and communities’ ability to cope with disaster. Less research has focused on how age impacts resilience. This research adapts several previous conceptual models used to investigate resilience. To investigate the unique vulnerabilities faced by older individuals in post-disaster settings, this analysis was undertaken to investigate predictors of individual resilience.

Methods

Data for the study were derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Gulf States Population Survey (GSPS). The final sample included 5,713 adult residents from 4 gulf-coast states. Multiple linear regression was used for the analysis.

Results

All models (demographic, health, social, and combined) acted as significant predictors of individual resilience. Health and social resilience models accounted for more of the variance in resilience scores. In all models, age was negatively associated with resilience scores. Being female was protective across all models. The results of the model testing indicate inequitable disaster mitigation, with social and health indicators explaining the most variance in the resilience levels.

Conclusion

This research provides practitioners with the knowledge they need to focus their interventions on the areas where it is most needed to empower resilient individuals. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:256–264)

Keywords

disastersgenderolder adultsresiliencetechnological disaster
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 256 - 264
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

REFERENCES

1. Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). EM-DAT The International Disaster Database. 2012. https://www.emdat.be/database. Accessed May 10, 2016.Google Scholar
2. Baker, LR, Cormier, LA. Disasters and Vulnerable Populations: Evidence-Based Practice for the Helping Professions. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company; 2014.Google Scholar
3. 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
4. Myers, DG, Wee, DF. Disaster Mental Health Services: A Primer for Practitioners. Hove, UK: Psychology Press; 2005.Google Scholar
5. Newman, E, Risch, E, Kassam-Adams, N. Ethical issues in trauma-related research: a review. J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2006;1(3):29-46.Google Scholar
6. Ausbrooks, CY, Barrett, EJ, Martinez-Cosio, M. Ethical issues in disaster research: lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Popul Res Policy Rev. 2009;28(1):93-106.Google Scholar
7. Ritchie, LA, Gill, DA, Farnham, CN. Recreancy revisited: beliefs about institutional failure following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Soc Natur Resour. 2013;26(6):655-671.Google Scholar
8. Green, BL, Solomon, SD. The mental health impact of natural and technological disasters. In: Freedy JR, Hobfoll SE, eds. Traumatic Stress. New York, NY: Springer; 1995:163-180.Google Scholar
9. Arata, CM, Picou, JS, Johnson, GD, et al. Coping with technological disaster: an application of the conservation of resources model to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. J Trauma Stress. 2000;13(1):23-39.Google Scholar
10. Cutter, SL. The landscape of disaster resilience indicators in the USA. Nat Hazards. 2016;80(2):741-758.Google Scholar
11. Cutter, SL, Barnes, L, Berry, M, et al. A place-based model for understanding community resilience to natural disasters. Global Environ Chang. 2008;18(4):598-606.Google Scholar
12. Burby, RJ, Beatley, T, Berke, PR, et al. Unleashing the power of planning to create disaster-resistant communities. J Am Plann Assoc. 1999;65(3):247-258.Google Scholar
13. Adger, WN, Hughes, TP, Folke, C, et al. Social-ecological resilience to coastal disasters. Science. 2005;309(5737):1036-1039.Google Scholar
14. Adger, WN. Social and ecological resilience: are they related? Prog Hum Geog. 2000;24(3):347-364.Google Scholar
15. Holling, CS. Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst. 1973;4(1):1-23.Google Scholar
16. Hobfoll, SE, Stevens, NR, Zalta, AK. Expanding the science of resilience: conserving resources in the aid of adaptation. Psychol Inq. 2015;26(2):174-180.Google Scholar
17. Brown, L, Rothman, M, Norris, F. Issues in mental health care for older adults after disasters. Generations. 2007;31(4):21-26.Google Scholar
18. Blaikie, P, Cannon, T, Davis, I, et al. At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters. London, UK: Routledge; 2014.Google Scholar
19. Burnett, J, Dyer, C, Pickins, S. Rapid needs assessments for older adults in disasters. Generations. 2007;31(4):10-15.Google Scholar
20. Tuohy, R, Stephens, C. Older adults’ narratives about a flood disaster: resilience, coherence, and personal identity. J Aging Stud. 2012;26(1):26-34.Google Scholar
21. Enarson, E, Morrow, B. The Gendered Terrain of Disaster. New York: Praeger; 1998.Google Scholar
22. Enarson, E, Scanlon, J. Gender patterns in flood evacuation: a case study in Canada's Red River Valley. Appl Behav Sci Rev. 1999;7(2):103-124.Google Scholar
23. Morrow, BH, Phillips, BD. What's gender 'got to do with it'? Int J Mass Emerg Disasters. 1999;17(1):5-13.Google Scholar
24. Norris, F. Disasters and domestic violence. National Center for PTSD. 2014. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/trauma/disaster-terrorism/disasters-domestic-violence.asp. Accessed May 5, 2016.Google Scholar
25. Cutter, SL, Emrich, CT. Moral hazard, social catastrophe: the changing face of vulnerability along the hurricane coasts. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 2006;604(1):102-112.Google Scholar
26. Fan, AZ, Prescott, MR, Zhao, G, et al. Individual and community-level determinants of mental and physical health after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: findings from the Gulf States Population Survey. J Behav Health Ser R. 2015;42(1):23-41.Google Scholar
27. Fernandez, LS, Byard, D, Chien-Chih, L, et al. Frail elderly as disaster victims: emergency management strategies. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2002;17(2):67-74.Google Scholar
28. McGuire, LG, Ford, ES, Okoro, CA. Natural disasters and older U.S. adults with disabilities: implications for evacuation. Disasters. 2007;31(4):49-56.Google Scholar
29. Cutter, SL, Boruff, BJ, Shirley, WL. Social vulnerability to environmental hazards. Soc Sci Quart. 2003;84(2):242-261.Google Scholar
30. Cutter, SL, Ahearn, JA, Amadei, B, et al. Disaster resilience: a national imperative. Environ Sci Policy. 2013;55(2):25-29.Google Scholar
31. Ngo, E. When disasters and age collide: reviewing vulnerability of the elderly. Nat Hazards Rev. 2001;2(80):80-89.Google Scholar
32. Cherniack, EP. The impact of natural disasters on the elderly. Am J Disaster Med. 2007;3(3):133-139.Google Scholar
33. Sanders, S, Bowie, SL, Bowie, YD. Chapter 2 lessons learned on forced relocation of older adults: the impact of Hurricane Andrew on health, mental health, and social support of public housing residents. J Gerontol Soc Work. 2004;40(4):23-35.Google Scholar
34. Rothman, M, Brown, L. The vulnerable geriatric casualty: medical needs of frail older adults during disasters. Generations. 2007;31(4):16-20. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asag/gen/2007/00000031/00000004/art00005. Accessed April 10, 2016.Google Scholar
35. Gibson, MJ. We can do better: lessons learned for protecting older persons in disaster. AARP report. 2006. http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/il/better.pdf. Accessed April 20, 2016.Google Scholar
36. Jenkins, P, Laska, S, Williamson, G. Connecting future evacuation to current recovery: saving the lives of older people in the next catastrophe. Generations. 2007;31(4):49-52.Google Scholar
37. Smith, LC, Smith, M, Ashcroft, P. Analysis of environmental and economic damages from British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Alb L Rev. 2011;74(1):563-585.Google Scholar
38. Andersen, RM, Rice, TH, Kominski, GF. Changing the US Health Care System: Key Issues in Health Services Policy and Management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons; 2011.Google Scholar
39. Hobfoll, SE. Conservation of resources: a new attempt at conceptualizing stress. Am Psychol. 1989;44(3):513-524.Google Scholar
40. Hobfoll, SE. The Ecology of Stress. Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishing Corp; 1988.Google Scholar
41. Hobfoll, SE. The influence of culture, community, and the nested‐self in the stress process: advancing conservation of resources theory. Appl Psychol. 2001;50(3):337-421.Google Scholar
42. Cutter, SL, Burton, CG, Emrich, CT. Disaster resilience indicators for benchmarking baseline conditions. J Homel Secur Emerg. 2010;7(1):1-22. doi: 10.2202/1547-7355.1732.Google Scholar
43. Hobfoll, SE, Lilly, RS. Resource conservation as a strategy for community psychology. J Community Psychol. 1993;21(2):128-148.Google Scholar
44. Chen, S, Westman, M, Hobfoll, SE. The commerce and crossover of resources: resource conservation in the service of resilience. Stress Health. 2015;31(2):95-105.Google Scholar
45. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Gulf States Population Survey. CDC Mental Health Surveillance. Updated April 21, 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealthsurveillance/gsps.html. Accessed April 23, 2016.Google Scholar
46. Pearlin, LI, Schooler, C. The structure of coping. J Health Soc Behav. 1978,19:2-21.Google Scholar
47. Wilkins, K, Beaudet, MP. Work stress and health. Canadian Health reports. 1998. http://publications.gc.ca/site/archivee-archived.html?url=http://publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/Statcan/82-003-XIE/0039882-003-XIE.pdf#page=49. Accessed April 12, 2016.Google Scholar
48. Korkeila, JA, Kovess, V, Dalgard, OS, et al. Piloting mental health indicators for Europe. J Ment Health. 2007;16(3):401-413.Google Scholar
49. Pearlin, LI, Menaghan, EG, Lieberman, MA, et al. The stress process. J Health Soc Behav. 1981;22:337-356.Google Scholar
50. Cutter, SL. Hazards, Vulnerability and Environmental Justice. New York, NY: Routledge; 2012.Google Scholar
51. Cannon, T. Vulnerability analysis and disasters. In: Parker D, ed. Floods. London, UK: Taylor and Francis. 2000;1:45-55.Google Scholar
52. Dwyer, A, Zoppou, C, Nielsen, O, et al. Quantifying Social Vulnerability: A Methodology for Identifying Those at Risk to Natural Hazards. Canberra, Australia: Geoscience Australia; 2004.Google Scholar
53. Cherry, KE, Sampson, L, Nezat, PF, et al. Long-term psychological outcomes in older adults after disaster: relationships to religiosity and social support. Aging Ment Health. 2015;19(5):430-443.Google Scholar
54. Pinsker, DM, McFarland, K, Stone, VE. The social vulnerability scale for older adults: an exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic study. J Elder Abuse Negl. 2011;23(3):246-272.Google Scholar
55. Gill, DA, Ritchie, LA, Picou, JS. Sociocultural and psychosocial impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill: twenty-four years of research in Cordova, Alaska. Extract Ind Soc. 2016;3(4):1105-1116.Google Scholar