The purpose of the study was to assess predictors of family resiliency following a disaster and the relationships among them in an exploratory manner. Predictors that were assessed in the study were resource loss, prior traumatic events, cumulative stress and selected demographic characteristics. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) by combining Census data with storm damage estimates and purposive sampling, 50 participants affected by Hurricane Katrina from a single suburban community in Southern Louisiana in early spring 2006 were recruited and interviewed. In late spring and summer, data collection was continued in Southwestern Louisiana and 32 rural respondents affected by Hurricane Rita were interviewed. These participants were recruited through rural and farm associations and with the aid of Cooperative Extension Service agents. The typical respondent affected by Hurricane Katrina in the study was a married, employed Caucasian female around 48 years old. The typical respondent affected by Hurricane Rita was a married, employed Caucasian female around 56 years old. Because there was no existing instrument that measures family resiliency, a multi-dimensional assessment was developed by reviewing existing instruments that measure similar constructs. Resource loss was measured by the Loss of Resource (LOR) inventory (Sattler, 2002). Prior traumatic event and cumulative stress were assessed by an instrument that was modeled after the assessment that was used in the baseline interview that was developed by Harvard Medical Schools Hurricane Advisory Group (2006). Following a frequency and reliability analysis, hypotheses were tested using correlation and regression analysis. For the Hurricane Katrina sample, higher amounts of resource loss and being female significantly predicted less family resiliency. For the Hurricane Rita sample, lower income significantly predicted less family resiliency. Results suggest that resource loss, gender, and income are important factors to consider when locating families that are more likely to be vulnerable following a disaster.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-07112007-150118 |
| Date | 12 July 2007 |
| Creators | Knowles, Robin Michelle |
| Contributors | Loren Marks, Diane Sasser, Mary Elizabeth Betsy Garrison, John Pine |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07112007-150118/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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