Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
BMC Psychiatry. 2020 Nov 19;20(1):543. doi: 10.1186/s12888-020-02944-y.
Natural disasters are unpredictable and uncontrollable events that usually induce significant level of stress and social disruption in afflicted individuals. The consequences are formidable, affecting lifetime health and economic prosperity. Among natural disasters, floods are the most common causes and tend to have the highest economic burden. The aim of this study was to examine factors associated with child resilience in the face of the natural disaster experienced by the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada during its unprecedented flood of 2013.
The current study was conducted in a community-based cohort situated in the city of Calgary. The participants were recruited out of the All Our Families longitudinal cohort within the Cummings School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Of the total 1711 people contacted, 469 people consented and completed questionnaire. Of those 469 who consented to be part of the study, 467 were eligible to be included for analysis. A flood impact questionnaire was delivered 6 months after the 2013 flood in families whose children were an average of 3 years old. Mother reported questionnaires were used to assess child resilience. The study included maternal data on a range of factors including socio-demographic, history of mental health, relationship with the partner and social support. Child related data were also incorporated into the study, and variables included delivery mode, child sex, and child age at the time of disaster.
Child resilience was best predicted by mother's age and social support, and by child gender, the child's externalizing and internalizing behaviors and the Rothbart temperament scale: effortful control. Furthermore, this study revealed that children who were more exposed to the flood events, showed higher resilience compared to the children who were less or not exposed.
These findings highlight the risk and protective factors that predict child resilience and suggest that mother reported questionnaire are useful tools to assess child resilience amidst early life adversity.
自然灾害是不可预测和不可控制的事件，通常会给受灾个人带来重大的压力和社会混乱。其后果是巨大的，影响终生健康和经济繁荣。在自然灾害中，洪水是最常见的原因，往往造成最高的经济负担。本研究旨在探讨加拿大阿尔伯塔省卡尔加里市在 2013 年遭遇前所未有的洪水时，与儿童应对自然灾害的韧性相关的因素。
本研究在卡尔加里市的一个基于社区的队列中进行。参与者是从卡尔加里大学卡明斯医学院的全家族纵向队列中招募的。在联系的 1711 人中，有 469 人同意并完成了问卷调查。在同意参与研究的 469 人中，有 467 人符合纳入分析的条件。在 2013 年洪水发生 6 个月后，向其孩子平均年龄为 3 岁的家庭发放了洪水影响问卷。母亲报告问卷用于评估儿童的适应力。该研究包括母亲的一系列因素数据，包括社会人口统计学、心理健康史、与伴侣的关系和社会支持。还将儿童相关数据纳入研究，变量包括分娩方式、儿童性别以及灾难发生时儿童的年龄。
儿童的适应力最好由母亲的年龄和社会支持以及儿童的性别、儿童的外化和内化行为以及 Rothbart 气质量表：努力控制来预测。此外，本研究表明，与暴露于洪水事件较少或没有暴露的儿童相比，暴露于洪水事件较多的儿童表现出更高的适应力。
这些发现强调了预测儿童适应力的风险和保护因素，并表明母亲报告问卷是评估儿童在早期生活逆境中适应力的有用工具。
