The Meaning of Displacement for Mental Health after a Disaster

• In Event: 194 - Regular Session. Disaster

Abstract

Research on the effect of disaster displacement on mental health offers mixed findings: some studies find that displaced residents suffer worse mental health than returned residents, whereas others find no difference between the two groups. The mixed findings could be due to methodological limitations of disaster research, but also to a limited understanding of the mechanisms through which displacement affects mental health. We investigate the effects of disaster displacement on mental health using qualitative and quantitative data from a study of low-income parents, predominantly non-Hispanic Black single mothers, who survived Hurricane Katrina and who completed pre and postdisaster assessments (N = 392). In a previous study (Fussell and Lowe 2014) we identified three profiles of displacement experiences within the sample using latent profile analysis: (1) returned; (2) relocated; and (3) unstably housed. That study found that, relative to participants in the returned profile, those in the relocated profile had significantly higher general psychological distress and perceived stress, and those in the unstably housed profile had significantly higher perceived stress. In the current analysis we draw on interview data for study participants’ interpretations of their own displacement experiences and associate it with their displacement profile. Guided by conservation of resources theory, we investigate the ways in which participants in each profile conserve resources by maintaining access to social support networks and location-based resources and minimizing disaster-related stressors.

Authors

• Elizabeth Fussell, Brown University

• Asad L. Asad, Harvard University

• Sarah R Lowe, Columbia University