title: Are natural disasters in early childhood associated with mental health and substance use disorders as an adult?
abstract: Understanding factors that influence risk for mental health and substance use disorders is critical to improve population health and reduce social costs imposed by these disorders. We examine the impact of experiencing a natural disaster-a serious fire, tornado, flood, earthquake, or hurricane-by age five on adult mental health and substance use disorders. The analysis uses data from the 2004 to 2005 National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. The analysis sample includes 27,129 individuals ages 21-64 years. We also exploit information on parenting strategies to study how parents respond to natural disasters encountered by their children. We find that experiencing one or more of these natural disasters by age five increases the risk of mental health disorders in adulthood, particularly anxiety disorders, but not substance use disorders. Parents alter some, but not all, of their parenting strategies following a natural disaster experienced by their children. It is important to provide support, for example through counseling services and financial assistance, to families and children exposed to natural disasters to mitigate future mental health and substance use problems attributable to such exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Temple University, Ritter Hall Annex 869, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA. Electronic address: catherine.maclean@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Johanna Catherine
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Maclean
authors.affiliation: Nova Southeastern University, College of Pharmacy, Department of Sociobehavioral and Administrative Pharmacy, 3200 South University Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33328-2018, USA. Electronic address: Ioana.Popovici@nova.edu.
authors.forename: Ioana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Popovici
authors.affiliation: University of Miami, Health Economics Research Group, Department of Sociology, Department of Public Health Sciences, and Department of Economics, 5202 University Drive, Merrick Building, Room 121F, P.O. Box 248162, Coral Gables, FL, 33124-2030, USA. Electronic address: mfrench@miami.edu.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: French
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000592:standards*; D008875:Middle Aged; D000067073:Psychological Trauma / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*
keywords: Early childhood; Mental health; Natural disasters; Parenting strategies; Substance use; United States