Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, USA.
Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, University of California, Irvine, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2019 Feb;222:367-376. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.08.019. Epub 2018 Sep 17.
Disasters are place-based traumatic events, yet contemporary understandings of disaster recovery often do not consider the role of community organizations. We examine organization type and proximity as they relate to post-disaster mental health in a longitudinal study following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
Residents of metropolitan Boston (N = 846) were recruited via a probability-based sampling strategy within weeks of the bombings and were surveyed several times over a two-year period. Residents of metropolitan New York (N = 941) were recruited and surveyed at the same time and used for comparison due to similarities in community demographics, geography, and disaster histories. We identified six different organization types nearby resident: safety-based organizations, religious organizations, educational organizations, child- and family-promoting organizations, health-based organizations, and voluntary community organizations. With possible environmental detriments (crowds and noise) or benefits of organizations amplified in areas closest to the resident, the concentration of these local organization types was examined at different distance-based boundaries. Contextual data for both communities came from the U.S. Census, Google Places API, and Guidestar.
For Boston metropolitan area residents, having more safety-based organizations within a half-mile to one-mile area in the aftermath of the bombings was associated with poorer functioning six to seven months later and greater psychological distress two years later. However, the presence of more safety-based organizations in the one to three mile area was associated with decreased psychological distress two years later. More health-based and voluntary community organizations in the half-mile to one-mile area were also associated with fewer fears and worries about future adversity two years post-bombing. Exposure to the bombings and other community traumas moderated this relationship among Boston area participants.
Results suggest that local community organizations are not merely buildings or structures but ecological sources of support to those in need after a disaster.
灾难是基于地点的创伤性事件，但当代对灾难恢复的理解往往没有考虑社区组织的作用。我们在一项对 2013 年波士顿马拉松爆炸事件的纵向研究中，考察了组织类型和接近程度与灾难后心理健康的关系。
在爆炸发生后的几周内，通过基于概率的抽样策略，从波士顿大都市区招募了居民（N=846），并在两年的时间内进行了多次调查。由于社区人口统计学、地理位置和灾难历史相似，来自纽约大都市区的居民（N=941）也被招募并同时进行了调查，可用于比较。我们确定了附近居民的六种不同组织类型：安全组织、宗教组织、教育组织、儿童和家庭促进组织、健康组织和志愿社区组织。由于居民附近的组织可能会放大环境的不利因素（人群和噪音）或有利因素，因此在不同的基于距离的边界内检查了这些本地组织类型的集中程度。两个社区的背景数据均来自美国人口普查、Google Places API 和 Guidestar。
对于波士顿大都市区的居民，在爆炸发生后半英里到一英里范围内有更多的安全组织，六到七个月后功能较差，两年后心理困扰更大。然而，一到三英里范围内有更多的安全组织与两年后心理困扰减少有关。在半英里到一英里范围内有更多的健康组织和志愿社区组织，也与两年后对未来逆境的恐惧和担忧减少有关。爆炸事件和其他社区创伤的暴露情况调节了波士顿地区参与者之间的这种关系。
结果表明，地方社区组织不仅仅是建筑物或结构，而是灾难后需要帮助的人的生态支持来源。
