Depression and Associated Risk Factors Among Residents in Gulf Coast Communities Affected By Multiple Disasters—the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Hurricane Katrina

Purpose: Mississippi Gulf Coast communities are still adapting to the impact of the nation’s largest human-caused disaster, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  This latest human-caused disaster was stacked on top of what has been the ongoing recovery from hurricane Katrina. Yet little is known about the psychosocial impact of stacked disasters on the adaptation of local residents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depression and disaster-related risk factors for depression among residents of the three Mississippi coastal counties.

Methods: For this study, we utilize data from the 2010 and 2011 Mississippi Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Surveys. This project interviewed 486 Mississippi Gulf Coast residents, 18 years and older, both males and females, who lived within 10 miles of the coast.  These individuals were randomly and proportionately selected from the list of census districts using the ESRI ArcMap 10 software program. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) was used to measure depressive symptomatology. Disaster-related factors include relocation due to Katrina; job loss due to Katrina; property damage due to the oil spill; perceived effect of the oil spill on health; perceived effect of the oil spill on job. The covariates include socio-demographic factors (gender, ethnicity, marriage, age, living with young children, education, transportation, working full time); current physical health status; year of data collection; and whether the past week was a normal week. Multiple logistic regression analysis using SAS 9.3 was conducted to assess the association between disaster-related factors and the likelihood of having depression after controlling for selected covariates.  

Results: Twenty-six percent of the sample showed depressive symptomatology as measured by the CES-D (cut-off score 16).  After adjusting for socio-demographic and other selected covariates, results indicated that the odds of being depressed were significantly higher among those who had higher levels of worry regarding the negative impact of the oil spill on their job (OR=1.36; p=.009) and among those who had higher levels of worry regarding the negative impact of the oil spill on their health and the health of their family (OR=1.51; p =.001).  Additionally, those who reported the experience of either relocation or job loss due to Katrina and those who reported both experiences had increased odds of being depressed, compared to those who reported neither experience (OR=2.61; p=.020; OR=3.21; p=.025, respectively).

Implications: Implications for human service providers responding to the challenges faced by survivors of stacked disasters will be addressed. Clearly human service personnel should be prepared for the ongoing challenges faced by more than a quarter of the population living in disaster prone areas. Additionally, the implications for public health officials will be discussed given the recurring impact of stacked disasters on the Gulf Coast population.