title: Hurricane Georges: a cross-national study examining preparedness, resource loss, and psychological distress in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and the United States.
abstract: This cross-national study examined preparation for and psychological functioning following Hurricane Georges in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and the United States. Four to five weeks after the storm made landfall, 697 college students (222 men, 476 women) completed a questionnaire assessing demographic characteristics, preparation, social support, resource loss, and symptoms associated with acute stress disorder. Location, resource loss (especially personal characteristic resources) and social support accounted for a significant portion of psychological distress variance. The findings support the conservation of resources stress theory (Hobfoll, 1989, 1998). Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University, Bellingham 98225-9089, USA. david.sattler@wwu.edu
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Sattler
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Preston
authors.forename: Charles F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Vivian E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Olivera
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Valdez
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schlueter
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004190:Disasters; D004293:Dominican Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000453:epidemiology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014767:United States Virgin Islands / Q000453:epidemiology