Kaitlin E Bountress1, Amanda K Gilmore2, Isha W Metzger3, Steven H Aggen4, Rachel L Tomko5, Carla Kmett Danielson6, Vernell Williamson4, Vladimir Vladmirov4, Kenneth Ruggiero7, Ananda B Amstadter4. 1. Virginia Institute for Psychiatry and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States. Electronic address: kaitlin.bountress@vcuhealth.org. 2. Mark Chaffin Center for Healthy Development and Department of Health Policy & Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, United States. 3. University of Georgia, Department of Psychology, United States. 4. Virginia Institute for Psychiatry and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States. 5. Addiction Sciences Division, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, United States. 6. National Crime Victim Research & Treatment Center (NCVC), Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, United States. 7. College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, United States.
Abstract
RATIONALE: Natural disasters are common and have potentially deleterious impacts on individuals, as well as on the relationships among family members (Adams et al., 2015; Paul, 2015). Additionally, caregiver-, offspring-, and family-level outcomes are often correlated following disaster. OBJECTIVE: Thus, longitudinal work is needed to clarify the prospective associations among such constructs following severe disasters. METHOD: The current study included 1,271 adolescents and investigated whether disaster exposure impacted adolescent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, parent distress, and family parent-child conflict and communication, as well as whether/how these factors influenced one another over time. This study used a dynamic cascade model and included adolescents (ages 12-17) and caregivers present for tornadoes in Missouri and Alabama in 2011. These participants were part of a larger study involving a web-based intervention. RESULTS: Over and above covariates (i.e., adolescent age, gender, race, treatment, prior trauma, adolescent alcohol use and depressive symptoms, and household income), families who experienced greater severity of disaster exposure had adolescents who reported more baseline PTSD symptoms and caregivers who reported more distress at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Providing tangible resources (e.g., housing, food, transportation, essential possessions) to families post-disaster may reduce parent distress and adolescent PTSD symptoms. Additionally, reducing adolescent PTSD symptoms may prospectively improve relationships between parents and adolescents.
RATIONALE: Natural disasters are common and have potentially deleterious impacts on individuals, as well as on the relationships among family members (Adams et al., 2015; Paul, 2015). Additionally, caregiver-, offspring-, and family-level outcomes are often correlated following disaster. OBJECTIVE: Thus, longitudinal work is needed to clarify the prospective associations among such constructs following severe disasters. METHOD: The current study included 1,271 adolescents and investigated whether disaster exposure impacted adolescent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, parent distress, and family parent-child conflict and communication, as well as whether/how these factors influenced one another over time. This study used a dynamic cascade model and included adolescents (ages 12-17) and caregivers present for tornadoes in Missouri and Alabama in 2011. These participants were part of a larger study involving a web-based intervention. RESULTS: Over and above covariates (i.e., adolescent age, gender, race, treatment, prior trauma, adolescent alcohol use and depressive symptoms, and household income), families who experienced greater severity of disaster exposure had adolescents who reported more baseline PTSD symptoms and caregivers who reported more distress at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Providing tangible resources (e.g., housing, food, transportation, essential possessions) to families post-disaster may reduce parent distress and adolescent PTSD symptoms. Additionally, reducing adolescent PTSD symptoms may prospectively improve relationships between parents and adolescents.
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