Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Post-Tornado Distress Among Persons with Disabilities

Objective:

Experiencing a tornado can profoundly impact a person’s mental health. After tornado exposure, individuals may experience various mental health symptoms, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Factors such as demographics, socioeconomic status, and pre-tornado trauma experience maybe be risk factors for mental health problems after a tornado. The mental health of persons with disabilities (PWD) is disproportionately affected by extreme weather events such as tornadoes. There is a need to investigate the social and contextual protective resources and risk factors associated with post-tornado distress symptoms and examine how these factors work and contribute to the mental health of PWD in disaster situations. This study examined correlations between tornado exposure, protective resources, depression, and PTSD among PWD.

Methods:

A cross-sectional online survey of 209 PWD was conducted from May 20 to 30, 2022, about five months after the tornado outbreak. Participants were 18 and older and lived in one of the 64 counties affected by the Midwest and Southeast tornado outbreak on December 10-11, 2021. The majority of participants identified difficulty with cognition (n = 164, 78.5%), followed by independent living (n = 82, 39.2%), difficulty with walking or stairs (n = 49, 23.4%), blind or difficulty seeing (n = 60, 28.7%), deaf or difficulty hearing (n = 18, 8.61%). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the effects of hypothesized predictors impacting post-tornado distress of PWD.

Results:

Tornado exposure was found to have a significant and positive relationship with PTS symptoms (β = 0.250, p < 0.01) and depressive symptoms (β = 0.309, p < 0.001). PWD with higher levels of physical, social, and emotional protection resources had a significant and inverse relationship with PTS symptoms (β = -0.305, p < 0.01) and depressive symptoms ((β = -0.308, p < 0.01).

Conclusion and Implications:

The results show that the degree of tornado exposure and the level of protective resources are significantly related to post-tornado distress in PWD. These findings suggest that tornado exposure may be associated with potential long-term mental health problems and reduced coping and recovery abilities in PWD. In terms of implications, these findings can inform clinicians and policymakers about essential resources to include in interventions to support the mental health of PWD after a tornado. Screening for tornado exposure levels, long-term tailored support specific to mental health in PWD, and the promotion and dissemination of information about access to mental health services can be important in improving the ability of PWD to navigate protective resources and support systems.