The detrimental effect of high mobility on long-term mental health trajectories following Hurricane Katrina.

This article uses longitudinal data from the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health Study to examine the impact of residential mobility on the long-term mental health trajectories of individuals displaced or severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Analyses begin with a descriptive understanding of residential mobility post-Katrina, including an explanation of who moved and how often in the 13 years after the storm, and determine which social groups were more likely to experience residential mobility than others. Secondly, it builds on these descriptive results by examining how residential mobility can influence the mental health of disaster survivors over time. Lastly, analyses determine how residential mobility rates differ depending on various social characteristics, and how such relationships influence mental health recovery. Results demonstrate that there is a statistically significant relationship between high rates of residential mobility and mental health recovery, and that particular social characteristics increase the risk for high residential mobility.