Disaster Media Effects: A Systematic Review and Synthesis Based on the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model

Natural and human-caused disasters receive extensive media coverage that often includes images, video, and descriptions of death, injury, and destruction. Individual exposure to disaster media has been found to be associated with a variety of effects (e.g., mental health reactions) among children and adults in numerous studies. Despite evidence of disaster media effects, the literature is not well organized. To improve integration, we conducted a systematic review and used the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model (DSMM) to organize results. We analyzed 66 studies, representing 78,643 participants, and found that the disaster media effects literature is built upon the theory of psychological trauma, that the role of uncertainty and social aspects of disaster media effects are understudied, and that transactional disaster media effect studies are nonexistent. Our analysis also indicates that adding a contextual category to the DSMM model is beneficial in synthesizing media effects. Opportunities for future research are discussed

Intimate partner violence and disasters: A framework for empowering women experiencing violence in disaster settings.

Disasters, both natural and human-caused, can generate significant stressors for individuals, families, and communities, and research has documented an increase in the prevalence and severity of violence against women following these events. This article reviews research documenting the prevalence and severity of violence against women in disaster settings and provides a framework for intimate partner violence professionals to cultivate resources and capacities that promote women’s safety and well-being before, during, and after a disaster. Framework objectives include increasing awareness and capacity to respond, promoting safety planning, ensuring basic needs are met, providing comfort and support, connecting to long-term services, and promoting psychosocial recovery

Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI): A group intervention to foster college student resilience

Many colleges and universities report an increase in the prevalence of reported stress, anxiety, and depression among college students. The current article describes the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI), a group intervention designed to help college participants identify thoughts, feelings, and coping strategies related to a problematic experience or to an everyday stressors. To illustrate the RCI group process, vignettes from two RCI sessions with undergraduate college students are provided to demonstrate how the intervention enables group members to discuss their challenges, explore and validate their experiences, problem solve, and connect with peers. In addition, the vignettes provide descriptions of college students’ reported stressors and challenges, thoughts and feelings, and coping mechanisms. Given the increased prevalence of reported stress, anxiety, and depression among students, colleges need feasible and effective interventions such as RCI that reduce stress and help students to develop coping skills and strategies

Student Coping with the Effects of Disaster Media Coverage: A Qualitative Study of School Staff Perceptions

Addressing mental and behavioral health effects of disaster media coverage is an important part of a disaster public health response, and school staff may be particularly well suited to help children and youth cope with disaster media. We conducted qualitative interviews (N = 42) to explore US school staff (e.g., teachers, mental health staff, administrators) perspectives on disaster media coverage and students and used an inductive thematic method for analysis. We found that school staff reported that students often exhibited reactions to disaster media that included expressing emotions and asking questions. With regard to school staff coping efforts with students, participants described different ways they talked with students about disaster media, but also reported a need for help with these conversations

Post-traumatic growth 2.5 years after the 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado

In 2011 a major tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 and injuring 1,150 individuals. Approximately 2.5 years after this disaster, an online survey of Joplin adult residents (N = 438) was conducted to examine the relationship between disaster experience, post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, communication with family, friends, and neighbors, and post-traumatic growth (PTG). Results indicate that more tornado exposure and tornado PTS symptoms were related to more PTG. In addition, engaging in more communication about the tornado with family, friends, and neighbors was related to more perceived PTG. Implications for social work practice in long-term post-disaster communities include building upon areas of growth and promoting positive interpersonal connections among survivors

The centrality of media and communication in fostering community resilience: A framework for assessment and intervention

A community is resilient if it is able to “bounce forward” after an adverse event. Community resilience is generally considered a process that is indicated by community adaptation following a disaster or crisis. In this article, we employ media and communication perspectives (communication ecology, public relations, and strategic communication) to review the community resilience literature and propose a revised community resilience model. Our proposed model includes four components: communication systems and resources, community relationships, strategic communication processes, and community attributes. Each of these components includes several elements that are described. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Individual perceptions of community resilience following the 2011 Joplin tornado

Approximately 6–7 months after the deadliest tornado in the United States since 1947, we conducted a RDD telephone survey of Joplin residents (N = 380) to examine perceptions of community resilience (CR). We found that participants had positive perceptions of the resilience of their community after this major disaster. Older participants were more likely to perceive the community to be resilient than younger participants. More tornado experience was related to lower perceptions of CR. More use of traditional media (television and newspapers) for tornado information and more conversation with friends, family and neighbours about the tornado was associated with higher CR perceptions. Overall, mediated and interpersonal communication processes appear important for fostering CR following a major disaster

Public Disaster Communication and Child and Family Disaster Mental Health: A review of theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence

Children have been identified as particularly vulnerable to psychological and behavioral difficulties following disaster. Public child and family disaster communication is one public health tool that can be utilized to promote coping/resilience and ameliorate maladaptive child reactions following an event. We conducted a review of the public disaster communication literature and identified three main functions of child and family disaster communication: fostering preparedness, providing psychoeducation, and conducting outreach. Our review also indicates that schools are a promising system for child and family disaster communication. We complete our review with three conclusions. First, theoretically, there appears to be a great opportunity for public disaster communication focused on child disaster reactions. Second, empirical research assessing the effects of public child and family disaster communication is essentially nonexistent. Third, despite the lack of empirical evidence in this area, there is opportunity for public child and family disaster communication efforts that address new domains

2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado experience, mental health reactions, and service utilization: Cross-sectional assessments at approximately 6 months and 2.5 years post-event.

Introduction. On May 22, 2011 the deadliest tornado in the United States since 1947 struck Joplin, Missouri killing 161 people, injuring approximately 1,150 individuals, and causing approximately $2.8 billion in economic losses. Methods. This study examined the mental health effects of this event through a random digit dialing sample (N = 380) of Joplin adults at approximately 6 months post-disaster (Survey 1) and a purposive convenience sample (N = 438) of Joplin adults at approximately 2.5 years post-disaster (Survey 2). For both surveys we assessed tornado experience, posttraumatic stress, depression, mental health service utilization, and sociodemographics. For Survey 2 we also assessed social support and parent report of child strengths and difficulties. Results. Probable PTSD relevance was 12.63% at Survey 1 and 26.74% at Survey 2, while current depression prevalence was 20.82% at Survey 1 and 13.33% at Survey 2. Less education and more tornado experience was generally related to greater likelihood of experiencing probable PTSD and current depression for both surveys. Men and younger participants were more likely to report current depression at Survey 1. Low levels of social support (assessed only at Survey 2) were related to more probable PTSD and current depression. For both surveys, we observed low rates of mental health service utilization, and these rates were also low for participants reporting probable PTSD and current depression. At Survey 2 we assessed parent report of child (ages 4 to 17) strengths and difficulties and found that child difficulties were more frequent for younger children (ages 4 to 10) than older children (ages 11 to 17), and that parents reporting probable PTSD reported a greater frequency of children with borderline or abnormal difficulties. Discussion. Overall our results indicate that long-term (multi-year) community disaster mental health monitoring, assessment, referral, outreach, and services are needed following a major disaster like the 2011 Joplin tornado

Randomized controlled trial of the resilience and coping intervention (RCI) with undergraduate university students

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with college students. Participants: College students (aged 18–23) from a large Midwest US university who volunteered for a randomized controlled trial during the 2015 spring semester. Methods: College students were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 64) or a control (n = 65) group. Intervention participants received three 45-minute RCI sessions over subsequent weeks. All participants completed pre- and post-intervention assessments at the beginning of Week 1 and end of Week 3. Student resilience, coping, hope, stress, depression, and anxiety were assessed. Results. RCI participants reported significantly more hope and less stress and depression from Week 1 to Week 3 compared with control participants. Results for resilience also approached statistical significance. Effect sizes were small to moderate. Conclusions: This study found preliminary evidence that RCI is an effective resilience intervention for use with college students