title: Longitudinal Assessment of Cognitive and Psychosocial Functioning After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Exploring Disaster Impact on Middle-Aged, Older, and Oldest-Old Adults.
abstract: The authors examined the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (HKR) on cognitive and psychosocial functioning in a lifespan sample of adults 6 to 14 months after the storms. Participants were recruited from the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS). Most were assessed during the immediate impact period and retested for this study. Analyses of pre-and post-disaster cognitive data confirmed that storm-related decrements in working memory for middle-aged and older adults observed in the immediate impact period had returned to pre-hurricane levels in the post-disaster recovery period. Middle-aged adults reported more storm-related stressors and greater levels of stress than the two older groups at both waves of testing. These results are consistent with a burden perspective on post-disaster psychological reactions.
authors.affiliation: Louisiana State University.
authors.forename: Katie E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Cherry
authors.forename: Jennifer Silva
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Loren D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galea
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Volaufova
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lefante
authors.forename: L Joseph
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Welsh
authors.forename: S Michal
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jazwinski
keywords: Louisiana Health Aging Study; Natural disasters; environmental stressors; hurricane effects; oldest-old