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Background: Exposure to natural disaster media coverage is associated with mental health problems, but its long-term impacts are still unclear. Also, no study has analysed the psychological impact of exposure to natural disaster media coverage among children who are generally sensitive to threatening events. Objective: We aimed to examine how television images of victims after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were associated with mental health among children and their parents. Methods: In 2012, questionnaires for sociodemographic factors were distributed to 2053 families. Parents who provided written consent were contacted in 2013 and invited to provide information on mental health problems (outcome) and retrospectively provide information on television watching at the time of the earthquake (exposure). We used data from 159 parents who completed the survey as the final sample. We used a dichotomous variable to evaluate exposure to media coverage. Multivariable regression was used to examine the association between exposure to television images of victims and mental health, adjusting for potential confounders. Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs) were used. Results: Exposure to television images of victims was significantly associated with worse psychopathology among children (β, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.07–2.96) and greater psychological distress among their parents (β, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.28–2.70). Child psychopathology and parental psychological distress were significantly correlated (r = 0.36, p <.001). Conclusions: Exposure to television images of disaster victims may produce long-term impacts on mental health among children and their parents. To reduce the likelihood of mental health problems associated with disasters, clinicians may recommend reducing exposure to television images of victims. Television images of victims after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were associated with worse psychopathology among children in 2013, adjusted for potential confounders. Similar associations were found in psychological distress among their parents. Child psychopathology and parental psychological distress were correlated with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disasters negatively impact mental health and well-being. Studying how people adapt and recover after adversity is crucial for disaster preparedness and response. Objective: This study examined how differentially affected communities harness their resources to adapt to the aftermath of a flood. We predicted that stronger individual, interpersonal, and community resources protect against psychosocial resource loss and, through that, are related to fewer symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression and higher life satisfaction. We also predicted that these effects would be stronger in a flooded community, compared to a threatened, but non-flooded community. Method: Participants were randomly sampled community members from two neighbouring municipalities. One municipality was severely flooded during the 2014 floods in South East Europe (affected community, na = 223), the other was threatened but not flooded (comparison community, nc = 224). Interviews were conducted one and a half years after the disaster using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10-item version, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Community Resources Scale, the Psychosocial Resource Loss Scale, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale Revised and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results: Stronger individual, interpersonal, and community resources were found to be related to better post-disaster outcomes directly and indirectly through psychosocial resource loss. In the affected community, interpersonal resources and community social capital and engagement were stronger predictors of positive adaptation. In the comparison community, community economic development and trust in community leadership were more important. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that people affected by disasters can harness their individual, interpersonal, and community resources to recover and adapt. Post-disaster interventions should aim to strengthen family and community ties, thus increasing available social support and community connectedness. • Psychosocial resource loss after disasters can be reduced by harnessing individual, interpersonal and community resources. • This is then related to better mental health and wellbeing. • Post-disaster interventions should aim to strengthen social support and community connectedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article seeks a queering of research and policy in relation to natural disasters, their human impacts, management and response. The human impacts of natural disasters vary across different social groups. We contend that one group largely absent from scholarly and policy agendas is sexual and gender minorities, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) populations. To demonstrate that these minorities have particular experiences that need to be addressed, we critically review five case studies that comprise the limited scholarly and policy research on LGBTI populations in disasters to date. Building on this, we offer some specific ways forward for queer disaster research that accounts for the vulnerabilities, needs and resilient capacities of LGBTI populations. In doing so, we recognise and urge researchers, policy-makers and aid agencies to acknowledge that LGBTI populations are not homogeneous and have different needs wrought by intersections of socio-economic resources, gender, race/ethnicity, age and regional or national location. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study the characteristics of volunteering and community response to major natural disasters are examined. We investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of volunteering and the extent to which such community response can be understood in terms of social networks. Understanding the linkages among volunteering, social networks, and disasters offers opportunities for improving the planned response when disasters strike, including how volunteering might be increased by tapping into social networks, how far volunteers might be willing to travel, and the degree to which volunteers help out over the course of the hazard. This research focuses on the severe flooding that affected Fargo, North Dakota, in spring 2009. We examine how the structure of social networks is related to different types of volunteering behavior, including the intensity of volunteering and spatiotemporal aspects of volunteering. The investigations revealed that volunteers were willing to travel at least five miles and, in some cases, up to approximately eighteen miles to volunteer. The results also indicate that even volunteers who resided in locations farthest away from the flooding endured during all phases of the hazard event. Our findings suggest that network density and diversity are significantly related to different types of volunteer behavior. Network diversity predicts volunteering early, for a greater number of days, and doing multiple types of volunteering, and network density is a positive predictor of volunteering after flood stage was declared and at a friend or family member's home or the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A comprehensive understanding of natural disasters requires understanding their environmental consequences. I examined the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the urban birds of New Orleans, USA. I counted resident land birds on a network of transects established after Katrina's August 2005 landfall. One hundred of these were randomly located and surveyed ten to fourteen weeks after the storm, and 150 more in five focal neighborhoods were surveyed from November 2005 through the fourth winter. Bird numbers on the 100 transects were lower on transects with higher Katrina wind speeds but not on those that flooded by more than 3 ft. The five focal neighborhoods maintained similar bird numbers relative to each other over the duration of the study. Bird numbers in the neighborhood impacted by the Murphy Oil spill were low but not lower than in some areas not contaminated by oil. Reproduction did not appear to be reduced in the oil spill relative to other neighborhoods. Creation of open land by removal of houses appeared to have little effect on bird numbers. However, another 2 km2 area of the city that was converted to open land and seldom mowed attracted a notable concentration of birds of prey in 2009. Focal neighborhoods farther west and therefore exposed to weaker winds tended to have more birds, possibly because of both reduced direct storm impacts and proximity to relatively high populations that could supply immigrants. Neighborhoods closer to nonflooded sources of immigrants in some cases had more birds, as did individual transects within one neighborhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the potential geographic inequities between major hazard events and U.S. presidential disaster declarations at the county level from 1965 through 2004. The previous literature suggests that the disaster declaration process is highly politicized and not necessarily based on need. We hypothesize that there is a spatial inequity between the receipt of disaster declarations and the distribution of major hazard events. The results indicate that the geographic distribution of disaster declarations is not totally explained by the spatial pattern of major hazard events. In some locales, state experience in submitting disaster requests and achieving success translates into more disaster declarations (holding everything else constant), providing further evidence of the political nature of the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many studies have reported the comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in children. However, the underlying relationship between PTSD and depression remains unclear. Objective: This study examines the relationship between PTSD and depressive symptoms in children who survived the Wenchuan earthquake in China. Methods: In total, 301 children were assessed at four months and then followed up at 29, 40 and 52 months after the disaster. The ages of the children ranged from 9.6-14.6 years old, and the sample included 157 males and 144 females. The children were assessed by using the University of California at Los Angeles PTSD reaction index for DSM-IV for PTSD symptoms and the Children’s Depression Inventory for depressive symptoms. Results: Comorbid PTSD and depressive symptoms were prevalent in 4.0, 3.3, 3.7 and 5.1% of the participants at times 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The cross-lagged analysis indicated that PTSD symptoms at time 1 predicted depressive symptoms at time 2; depressive symptoms at time 1 predicted PTSD symptoms at time 2; depressive symptoms at time 2 predicted PTSD symptoms at time 3; and depressive symptoms at time 3 predicted PTSD symptoms at time 4. The findings also showed that being female, poor parental relationships and trauma exposure were risk factors for PTSD or depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The results suggest that the causal relationship between PTSD and depressive symptoms changes over time; the effects of PTSD symptoms tend to decrease, while those of depressive symptoms tend to increase. Two stages of the relationship between PTSD and depressive symptoms were observed, namely, that PTSD and depressive symptoms first influenced each other and then that depressive symptoms predicted PTSD. The results of our study also suggest that females with poor parental relationships and a high degree of trauma exposure are more likely to require intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of children affected by natural disasters each year is alarmingly high and can be expected to rise as climate change continues. The mental consequences have been documented not only in the rates of post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder, but also for depression and other mental health problems. To contribute towards the knowledge in this area, this special issue of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology focuses on how children can be prepared for natural disasters and the mental health aspects of such events. It includes articles on communicating risks to children, involving children in disaster risk reduction, and the mental health consequences for children from an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a flood and a hurricane. In this special issue specifically focusing on children and natural disasters, we hope to enhance our understanding of some of the complex pathways and pave the way for improving our interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast number of people annually are affected by natural disasters. Children are at risk of losing their lives and suffer mentally or physically after such events. The fostering of resilience and preparedness ahead of disasters can reduce untoward effects of disastrous events. Risk communication and disaster education are considered important aspects of disaster preparedness, but little is known about whether such strategies influence children’s behaviour when natural disasters occur or how they cope in the aftermath. This paper presents and discusses various strategies that promote preparedness activities to save lives. To a minor extent, it also includes strategies that can promote coping in the aftermath. Strategies such as informational campaigns, educational activities, psychoeducation and parental guidance are addressed. The literature to date indicates that schools are a suitable arena for risk communication, and that adolescents themselves should be involved and engaged in the communication strategies. However, the relationship between knowledge of preparedness strategies and the resulting preparedness actions is largely unknown. It is unknown whether changes in awareness and attitudes have resulted in actual behaviour change. It is advocated that preparedness activities and parental involvement should supplement information-based strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]