Evaluating the interaction effects of housing vulnerability and socioeconomic vulnerability on self-perceptions of psychological resilience in Puerto Rico

Abstract

In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused devastating impacts on Puerto Rico's housing stock, leading to distress among homeowners due to material and social losses. One critical aspect of the recovery effort is their perceived ability to cope. Previous research has identified that socioeconomic and housing vulnerability impact people's distress levels in the aftermath of a disaster. However, this focused on socioeconomic and housing vulnerability on distress with less knowledge of their association with resilience perceptions. Importantly, socioeconomic and housing vulnerability may have a multiplicative effect on self-perceptions of psychological resilience. This research used door-to-door surveys (N = 235) in two of Puerto Rico's municipalities to address this gap. Results based on linear regression showed that the compounding effects of interior damage in housing and education are significantly associated with psychological resilience. The results contribute to the resilience theory, wherein an adversity is mediated by a certain process that contributes to its resilience outcomes. This deviates from conventional studies that consider socioeconomic and housing vulnerabilities as independent contributing factors to psychological resilience. A key point emphasized in this study is that adversity, such as a disaster causing damage to housing, is moderated by a process such as socioeconomic vulnerability, predicting the strength or weakness of psychological resilience. The contrast between self-perceptions of psychological resilience among lower and higher-education individuals provides novel information to stakeholders and implies policy and practice reforms to create resilience.