Leveraging the ABCD Study to Examine the Effects of Hurricane Irma Exposure

• In Event: 1-108 - Toward Understanding Heterogeneity in Adolescent Trauma Experiences and Later Adjustment Outcomes

Integrative Statement

Little is known about how variations in disaster-related stress affect child and adolescent brain, cognitive, and mood development. When disasters strike, a great many youth are in close proximity and are vulnerable to negative experiences that accompany them. These experiences are associated with life disruption, impaired functioning in family, academic, and peer settings, negative changes in cognition and mood, and elevated rates of mental health problems and substance misuse.
In the current investigation, we examined child development in the context of Hurricane Irma, which hit the Caribbean and Southeastern United States in September 2017. In the year prior to Irma making landfall, a large sample of children in Irma-affected regions (Florida and South Carolina) and non-affected control regions (California) began participating in a large, multisite longitudinal investigation of brain and cognitive development, the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. As part of the ABCD study, a battery of neuropsychological, interview, genetic, and structural and functional neuroimaging data were collected on these children before Irma made landfall, and were again collected on these children the year following Hurricane Irma. The current investigation additionally assessed these children’s Irma-related experiences, traumatic exposure, evacuation-related stress, and Irma-related media consumption affording a unique opportunity to longitudinally examine the effects of disaster exposure and disaster-related stress on youth development.
Method: 387 children and 439 parents from four study sites—Florida International University in Miami, Florida; University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida; Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC; and University of California at San Diego in San Diego, CA—were surveyed following the Hurricane (see Table 1). All children completed baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), genetics, and neuropsychological testing prior to the hurricane as part of the ABCD study. Children and parents also completed an ancillary online survey of their experiences during the hurricane to assess hurricane-related traumatic exposure and evacuation stress, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (UCLA Reaction Index), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), hurricane-related media exposure, and mood/behavior problems (Child Behavior Checklist).
Results: Hurricane Irma exposure was related to posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in Florida youth (r = .23, p < .01). Notably, after controlling for direct exposure, Irma-related media exposure was related to child PTS symptoms in both Irma-affected regions (i.e., Florida and South Carolina; r = .31, p < .001) and in non-Irma-affected regions (r = .36, p < .001) (Figure 1). Additional findings will be presented on (a) prospective biological predictors of children’s traumatic stress responses, and (b) biological outcomes related to Irma exposure.
Conclusions: The pre-post study design, taking advantage of the acquisition of brain, genetic, and neuropsychological measures in a large sample of children and their parents, affords a unique opportunity to understand factors predicting disaster response in children. Preliminary data suggest that disasters affect children both near and far, the latter due to disaster-related media exposure. This project will allow researchers and the general public to better understand the effects of disasters on the developing child and identify youth at greatest risk in the aftermath of disasters.

Authors

• Anthony Steven Dick, Florida International University
  Presenting Author

• Jon Comer, Florida International University, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Karina Silva, Florida International University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Raul Gonzalez, Florida International University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Matthew Sutherland, Florida International University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angela Laird, Florida International University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Robin Gurwitch, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Annette La Greca, University of Miami
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lindsay Squeglia, Medical University of South Carolina
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kevin Gray, Medical University of South Carolina
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sara Jo Nixon, University of Florida
  Non-Presenting Author

• Linda Cottler, University of Florida
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susan Tapert, University of California San Diego
  Non-Presenting Author