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Poster #64 - The Role of Parent Social Support in Predicting Psychological Outcomes in the Aftermath of Hurricanes

Fri, March 22, 12:45 to 2:00pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Understanding the influence of natural disasters, such as hurricanes, on the psychological functioning of children is necessary. Research has shown that children who experience trauma display increased post-traumatic stress (PTS) as well as internalizing, and externalizing symptoms (Trickey et al, 2012; Vogel & Vernberg, 1993). However, the mechanisms through which these experiences may lead to psychological problems is not fully understood. For example, children and adolescents who feel their life is at threat during a hurricane may seek out greater social support from their parents. Indeed, children who received more social support after hurricane exposure reported lower levels of psychological outcomes (La Greca et al., 2013). However, whether social support explains the link between the experiences during the hurricane and child outcomes is untested. Further, age also plays a role in symptom outcomes after disasters such that younger children are more likely to report more symptoms (Trickey et al., 2012). Thus, the present study aims to examine the hypothesized indirect pathways from children’s perceived life threat (PLT) to their psychological outcomes (i.e., PTS, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms), through the receipt of parental social support. Additionally, the study will examine if these pathways (i.e., between parent social support and psychological outcomes) differ by age (see Figure 1 for the hypothesized model tested).

The present study collected data from school children ages 8-19 from St. Thomas nine months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The majority of children were female (59.5%), and Non-Hispanic Black (77%). Children completed questionnaires on the following information: demographic background; hurricane exposure (i.e., perceived life threat) using the Hurricane Related Traumatic Experiences (Vernberg et al., 1996); receipt of social support using the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (Malecki & Demaray, 2002); PTS symptoms using the UCLA Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index for Children/Adolescents – DSM-5 (Steinberg, et al., 2013); and internalizing and externalizing symptoms using the Youth Pediatric Symptom Checklist (Jellinke, Murphy, & Burns, 1986).

To explore the hypothesized indirect pathways, regressions using the PROCESS macro in SPSS were run (Hayes, 2013). Age, gender, parent marital status, and family standard of living were controlled in all analyses. As shown in Table 1, the indirect pathway from PLT to child outcomes through parent social support was significant for child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, but not PTS symptoms. More specifically, children who perceived their life as at risk during the hurricane reported higher levels of parental support and, in turn, fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Further, moderation analyses indicated that the indirect pathway through parental social support was conditional on age for internalizing and PTS symptoms, but not externalizing symptoms. For internalizing symptoms, the indirect association was significant and negative for older children, but not significant for younger children. For PTS symptoms, the indirect association was negative for older children, but positive for younger children; however, neither pathway was significantly different from zero. It also should be noted that for most of these analyses, the direct positive associations between PLT and child outcomes remained significant. Clinical implications will be discussed.

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