Exposure to hurricanes, media linked to increase in Floridians' mental health symptoms

Repeated media-based exposures to hurricanes were linked to increasing mental health symptoms among Florida residents who experienced hurricanes Irma and Michael, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

“Hurricane exposure correlates with psychological distress, and storm severity correlates with posttraumatic stress disorder,” Dana Rose Garfin, PhD, of the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues wrote.

Garfin and fellow researchers aimed to gather information on the risk of hurricane exposure and its associations with psychosocial, mental health-related outcomes and functional impairment in a representative sample of Florida residents who experienced repeated hurricane exposure.

The population-based study included 2,873 individuals who were administered surveys at three separate intervals: in the 60 hours prior to Hurricane Irma (Sept. 8, 2017, to Sept. 11, 2017); 1 month after Hurricane Irma (Oct. 12, 2017, to Oct. 29, 2017); and following Hurricane Michael (Oct. 22, 2018, to Nov. 6, 2018).

Main outcomes were posttraumatic stress symptoms, global distress, worry about future events and functional impairment. Path models were used to assess associations of individual-level factors (prior mental health, recent adversity), prior storm exposures (loss and/or injury, evacuation), and direct, indirect and media-based exposures to hurricanes Irma and Michael with those outcomes. Data were analyzed from July 19-23, 2021.

Results showed 1,637 individuals responded out of 2,873 after the first interval, 1,478 responded after the second (90.3% retention) and 1,113 after the third interval (75.3% retention from second interval).

Prior mental health ailments (b, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.07-0.28), prior hurricane-related loss and/or injury (b, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.02-0.17), hours of Hurricane Irma–related media exposure (b, 0.03; 95% CI, 0.02-0.04), being in an evacuation zone during Hurricane Irma and not evacuating (b, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.02-0.27), and loss and/or injury in Hurricane Irma (b, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.25-0.44) were positively associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) after Hurricane Irma.

Associations were similar when examining responses to Hurricane Michael. Data additionally revealed that, after Hurricane Michael, prior mental health ailments (b, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.06-0.28), and PTSS related to hurricanes Irma (b, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.001-0.22) and Michael (b, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.47-0.69) were associated with respondents’ functional impairment.

“Creating policies that bridge treatment from before to after a disaster and offer community-based resources for these individuals may help break the cycle of distress,” Garfin and colleagues wrote.

In a related editorial, Masaki Nakabayashi, PhD, of the Institute of Social Science at The University of Tokyo, concurred with Garfin and colleagues’ assessment, saying that their findings may spur economists to address direct and indirect exposure, cumulative mental stress and resilience of a community when drafting policy on natural disasters.

References:

• Garfin DR, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.17251.
• Nakabayashi M. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.17260.