Effects of Disaster Preparedness Knowledge and Cumulative Disaster-Related Stressors on the Mental Health of College Students, Faculty, and Staff

Background and Purpose: The prevalence of disasters worldwide implicates the possible direct or indirect exposure to multiple disasters among students, staff, and faculty at colleges and universities—which may adversely affect their mental health. Disasters have been linked to elevated rates of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Institutions of higher education lack effective disaster preparedness efforts that consider the impact of exposure to multiple disasters on mental health issues. The literature highlights improved mental health outcomes when disaster preparedness knowledge is integrated with support for disaster-related mental health symptoms. However, research on the mental health impacts of disaster preparedness knowledge and cumulative disaster-related stressors among higher education staff and students residing in the US remains limited. Given this dearth in literature, the present study examines the relationship between cumulative disaster-related stressors (2019 coronavirus [COVID-19] and Hurricane Sandy), disaster preparedness knowledge, and depression among students, faculty, and staff in higher education. The first goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that exposure to cumulative disaster-related stressors (2019 coronavirus [COVID-19] and Hurricane Sandy) would increase the prevalence of depression among students, faculty, and staff in higher education. The second goal was to test the hypothesis that disaster preparedness knowledge would confound the relationship between cumulative disaster-related stressors (2019 coronavirus [COVID-19] and Hurricane Sandy) and depression among students, faculty, and staff in higher education.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the COVID-19 Well-Being Study examined the relationship between cumulative disaster-related stressors and depression among 1,497 students, staff, and faculty in higher education and determine whether disaster preparedness knowledge is an influencing factor.

Results: Modified Poisson regression analyses confirmed our first hypothesis and revealed that University participants exposed to cumulative disaster-related stressors (COVID-19 and Hurricane Sandy) had a higher prevalence of reported depression than those who did not report any exposure to cumulative disaster-related stressors (PR 4.20; 95% CI: 1.45-6.12). No association was observed between those who reported exposure to a single disaster (either COVID-19 or Hurricane Sandy) compared to those who reported no exposure to disaster-related stress. The second hypothesis was also confirmed, showing that the relationship was confounded when disaster preparedness knowledge factors (specifically, medication and grocery delivery knowledge) were added to the model (PR 3.75; 95% CI: 1.36-5.47).

Conclusions and Implications: Findings demonstrate exposure to both the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Sandy produces a greater prevalence of reported depression than having no disaster stress exposure. This provides further evidence that cumulative disaster stress exposure has a more significant impact on depressive symptoms than exposure to one disaster or none. The results also underscore the need to highlight disaster preparedness roles when developing mental health-responsive interventions for the higher education community. Social workers should be alerted to the relationship between cumulative disaster-related stressors and depression and the potential contributing factors (medication and delivery knowledge). Particular attention should be given to students with lower disaster preparedness knowledge and staff with higher disaster preparedness knowledge, which demonstrated a greater effect on the relationship between cumulative disaster-related stressors and depression.