Abstract
ObjectiveLack of social support is a strong predictor for poor mental health after disasters. Psychosocial post-disaster interventions may benefit from targeting survivors at risk of low support, yet it is unknown whether demographic and disaster exposure characteristics are associated with social support. This study assessed if age, gender, educational status, cohabitation, and disaster exposure severity predicted aspects of informal social support in a cohort of Swedish survivors from the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami.MethodsThe participants were 3,536 disaster survivors who responded to a mail survey 14 months after the disaster (49% response rate). Their perceptions of present emotional support, contact with others, tangible support, negative support and overall satisfaction with informal support were assessed with the Crisis Support Scale and analysed in five separate ordinal regressions.ResultsDemographic factors and exposure severity explained variation in social supports although the effect size and predictive efficiency were modest. Cohabitation and female gender were associated with both more positive and more negative support. Single-household men were at risk for low emotional support and younger women were more likely to perceive negative support. Higher education was associated with more positive support, whereas no clear pattern was found regarding age as a predictor. Disaster exposure severity was associated with more negative support and less overall support satisfaction.ConclusionsAfter a disaster that entailed little disruptions to the community the associations between demographic characteristics and social support concur with findings in the general population. The findings suggest that psychosocial disaster interventions may benefit from targeting specific groups of survivors.
Highlights
A significant proportion of survivors experience poor mental health in the aftermath of natural disasters, and reactions of posttraumatic stress (PTS) are prevalent [1]
PTS symptoms often fade within one year after the event for the majority of survivors [3]; there is a substantial risk of chronic PTS that may affect the survivors for decades [4]
An age of $65 years was associated with higher probability of missing values (Table 1)
Summary
A significant proportion of survivors experience poor mental health in the aftermath of natural disasters, and reactions of posttraumatic stress (PTS) are prevalent [1]. PTS include intrusive recollections of the event; avoidance of places, persons and situations that reminds of the event; and increased arousal and wariness [2]. Loneliness and perceptions of social isolation increase the risk for a range of adverse outcomes, including all-cause mortality [7]. Recent guidelines for psychosocial interventions after disasters emphasize the promotion and development of positive relationships to protect against the development of persistent PTS [11,12]. A critical issue, is whether it is possible to predict who will benefit the most from promotion of social support among disaster survivors
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