Work

Immediate emotional responses to the Southern California firestorms

Year: 1994

Type: article

Abstract: It is often assumed that immediate emotional responses to a disaster will invariably and unifonnly be negative.It is also commonly assumed that the severity of trauma has a "dose-response" relationship with the severity of distress experienced post-disaster (see Freedy, Kilpatrick, & Resnick 1993a; Herman, 1992; Smith & North, 1993).The present study tested the validity of these assumptions in a sample of residents from communities affected by the Southern California firestonns.Eighty-five residents of Laguna Beach and the Malibu-Topanga area were interviewed within 36 hours of the Fall, 1993 fires, and again 2-4 weeks later.At Time 1, residents who had lost their homes reported significantly more shock and somatic symptoms, and marginally less positive affect than those who had not lost their homes.However, residents who lost their homes did not differ significantly from those who had not lost them in tenns of the frequency and intensity of negative affect, nor in the intensity of positive affect they reported.By 2-4 weeks post-fires (Time 2), people who lost their homes reported significantly less shock and marginally less negative affect than they reported at Time 1, but affect levels did not differ significantly over time for those who had not lost their homes.By Time 2, residents who lost their homes did not differ from those who had not lost their homes in tenns of the frequency or intensity of positive and negative affect reported.At Time 2, people who lost their homes reported more shock and somatic symptoms than those who had not lost their homes, but these differences only approached significance.These findings challenge several assumptions underlying prior disaster research, and offer the first systematic report of immediate emotional responses to a disaster.

Source: Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida)

Authors: E. Alison Holman, Roxane Cohen Silver

Institution: University of South Florida

Language: English

Topic: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Science Foundation

Award: SGER: Coping with the Southern California Firestorms: Immediate Responses and Predictors of Adjustment