There’s no place like home: Examining the emotional consequences of Hurricane Katrina on the displaced residents of New Orleans

•Sample includes residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina for more than a year.•I examine the relationship between distress, sociodemographic and housing variables.•Effect of race on distress disappears when housing variables are controlled.•There is not a positive relationship between increased hom...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSocial science research Vol. 42; no. 5; pp. 1222 - 1235
Main Author Merdjanoff, Alexis A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2013
Academic Press
Subjects
Disaster
Disasters
Displaced persons
Emotional disorders
Gender
Home damage
Home ownership
Housing
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricanes
Income
Louisiana
Mental health
Natural Disasters
Psychological Distress
Race
Residents
Sex
Stress
U.S.A
New Orleans Louisiana
Disaster
Home damage
Gender
Mental health
Race
Income
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:•Sample includes residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina for more than a year.•I examine the relationship between distress, sociodemographic and housing variables.•Effect of race on distress disappears when housing variables are controlled.•There is not a positive relationship between increased home damage and distress. Using survey data from the Displaced New Orleans Residents Pilot Study (DNORPS), I examine the emotional consequences of Hurricane Katrina on the displaced residents of New Orleans. First, I employ an established framework within disaster research to investigate whether the stress level of displaced residents varies by race, income, and gender. As the residents in this dataset remained uprooted from their homes, I also examine three housing variables, including homeownership status, house type, and four levels of home damage. Contrary to previous research, home damage and homeownership status are significant predictors of displaced residents’ emotional distress while the effect of race disappears. These findings suggest that future research on the mental health of disaster survivors, especially for displaced residents, expand the traditional analytical framework to consistently include housing variables, especially different categories of home damage, in addition to race, income, and gender.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ObjectType-Article-2
ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:0049-089X
1096-0317
DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.04.004