Post disaster resilience

Traumatic events like September 11 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (H-KR) have heightened national awareness on the effects that such events can have on communities and specific populations. These disasters not only had major effects on those directly impacted by the hurricane, but also on first responders and the subsequent teams of personnel who provided aid to residents and evacuees. Students in social service fields were particularly prone to volunteer to provide help and those experiencing hurricanerelated stressors were even more likely to be volunteers, yet it is probable that many were also suffering from some psychological symptomology. Most studies examining the effects of traumatic events on health, mental health, and behavioral health have focused their research efforts on those hardest hit by these traumas, the survivors. However, a less studied area is the impact of exposure to traumatized populations on helping professionals and lay volunteers providing services, particularly related to the examination of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and posttraumatic The present analyses examined the differential risks of and protective factors against depressive symptoms of African American and Non-Hispanic White American student volunteers, respectively after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (H-KR). A total sample of 554 student volunteers were recruited from mental health professional programs at five universities located in the Deep South, namely areas severely impacted by H-KR during fall semester 2005. The response rate was 91% (N = 505). African American respondents (N = 299) and Non-Hispanic White Americans (N = 206) completed the survey questionnaires. Respondents retrospectively provided information on peritraumatic emotional reactions and previous trauma that were recalled by H-KR and H-KR stressors. African American respondents reported higher levels of depressive symptoms (65.2%) than their Non-Hispanic White counterparts (34.8%). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that disaster related stressors affected African Americans (p < 0.001), but not Non-Hispanic Whites. However, African Americans who experienced peritraumatic positive emotions had lower depression levels. Lower rates of recollection of prior traumas during H-KR were reported by African American respondents, whereas previous trauma recollections predicted symptoms among Non-Hispanic White Americans (p < 0.05). Exhibiting more optimism had lower depression levels among Non-Hispanic White Americans. Peritraumatic negative emotion was the only shared risk for depressive symptoms of both groups. Findings underscore racially different levels of depressive symptoms that may contribute to varying degrees of resilience among student volunteers. Future research and practice may address these racial differences by understanding the risk factors for depressive symptoms to develop appropriate interventions for racial groups, and cultivating the protective factors that contribute to resilience from traumatic experiences. Post disaster resilience Racially different correlates of depression symptoms among hurricane Katrina-Rita volunteers