Mapping Concentrations of Posttraumatic Stress and Depression Trajectories Following Hurricane Ike

Authors

Oliver Gruebner, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthFollow
Sarah R. Lowe, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Melissa Tracy, University at Albany, State University of New York
Spruha Joshi, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Magdalena Cerdá, University of California, Davis
Fran H. Norris, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
S V. Subramanian, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthFollow
Sandro Galea, Boston University School of HealthFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-25-2016

Abstract

We investigated geographic concentration in elevated risk for a range of postdisaster trajectories of chronic posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) and depression symptoms in a longitudinal study (N = 561) of a Hurricane Ike affected population in Galveston and Chambers counties, TX. Using an unadjusted spatial scan statistic, we detected clusters of elevated risk of PTSS trajectories, but not depression trajectories, on Galveston Island. We then tested for predictors of membership in each trajectory of PTSS and depression (e.g., demographic variables, trauma exposure, social support), not taking the geographic nature of the data into account. After adjusting for significant predictors in the spatial scan statistic, we noted that spatial clusters of PTSS persisted and additional clusters of depression trajectories emerged. This is the first study to show that longitudinal trajectories of postdisaster mental health problems may vary depending on the geographic location and the individual- and community-level factors present at these locations. Such knowledge is crucial to identifying vulnerable regions and populations within them, to provide guidance for early responders, and to mitigate mental health consequences through early detection of mental health needs in the population. As human-made disasters increase, our approach may be useful also in other regions in comparable settings worldwide.

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Gruebner, Oliver; Lowe, Sarah R.; Tracy, Melissa; Joshi, Spruha; Cerdá, Magdalena; Norris, Fran H.; Subramanian, S V.; and Galea, Sandro, "Mapping Concentrations of Posttraumatic Stress and Depression Trajectories Following Hurricane Ike" (2016). Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 4.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/psychology-facpubs/4

Published Citation

Gruebner, O., Lowe, S. R., Tracy, M., Joshi, S., Cerdá, M., Norris, F. H., . . . Galea, S. (2016). Mapping concentrations of posttraumatic stress and depression trajectories following Hurricane Ike. Scientific Reports, 6, 32242.