Zacher Meghan, Arkin Monica, Rhodes Jean, Lowe Sarah R
Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Data Science Initiative, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2022 Sep;50(9):1191-1205. doi: 10.1007/s10802-022-00917-1. Epub 2022 Mar 22.
Natural disasters adversely impact children's mental health, with increased parent or child exposure and subsequent parental distress predicting poorer outcomes. It remains unknown, however, whether the psychological consequences of disasters for children persist long-term, and if so, why and for whom. We therefore examined the effects of mothers' exposure to Hurricane Katrina on adolescent children's mental health 12 years later, distinguishing between direct effects of disaster exposure and effects mediated by maternal distress, and evaluating moderation by child age and gender. Data were from a 2003-2018 study of young, low-income, primarily African American mothers living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005 (n = 328). Mothers rated their mental health about one year pre-Katrina and one, four, and 12 years afterwards. They reported on an adolescent child's (ages 10-17, mean = 14.46) internalizing and externalizing symptoms 12 years post-Katrina using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Path analytic models adjusting for mothers' pre-disaster distress showed that, whereas the direct effects of maternal hurricane exposures on child mental health were not significant, the indirect effects were. Specifically, mothers who experienced more Katrina-related stressors had higher distress thereafter, which predicted poorer child outcomes. Results did not differ significantly by child age. Gender differences are discussed. Findings suggest that disasters can affect child mental health for many years, even for those who were very young or not yet born at the time, due to parents' disaster-related distress. Addressing parents' mental health needs in the aftermath of disasters may improve child well-being long-term.
自然灾害会对儿童的心理健康产生不利影响，父母或孩子接触灾害的机会增加以及随之而来的父母痛苦预示着更差的结果。然而，灾害对儿童的心理影响是否会长期持续，以及如果是这样，原因是什么以及对哪些儿童有影响，目前尚不清楚。因此，我们研究了母亲接触卡特里娜飓风对12年后青少年心理健康的影响，区分了灾害暴露的直接影响和母亲痛苦介导的影响，并评估了儿童年龄和性别的调节作用。数据来自2003 - 2018年对2005年卡特里娜飓风发生时居住在新奥尔良的年轻、低收入、主要为非裔美国母亲的研究（n = 328）。母亲们在卡特里娜飓风来临前约一年以及之后的一年、四年和十二年对自己的心理健康进行了评分。她们在卡特里娜飓风过后12年使用优势与困难问卷报告了一名青少年儿童（年龄在10 - 17岁，平均年龄 = 14.46岁）的内化和外化症状。调整母亲灾前痛苦程度的路径分析模型表明，虽然母亲飓风暴露对儿童心理健康的直接影响不显著，但间接影响显著。具体而言，经历更多与卡特里娜飓风相关压力源的母亲此后痛苦程度更高，这预示着儿童的结果更差。结果在儿童年龄方面没有显著差异。讨论了性别差异。研究结果表明，由于父母与灾害相关的痛苦，灾害会在多年内影响儿童的心理健康，即使是那些当时非常年幼或尚未出生的儿童。在灾害过后关注父母的心理健康需求可能会长期改善儿童的福祉。
