Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 13, 2026

High-Throughput Screening of Microbial Isolates with Impact on Caenorhabditis elegans Health
Published on: April 28, 2022
Displacement during Hurricane Sandy: The impact on mental health
Rebecca M Schwartz1, Rehana Rasul2, Samantha M Kerath3
1Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Great Neck, New York; Department of Population Health Science and Policy and Institute for Translational Epidemiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, New York; The Center for Disaster Health, Trauma, and Resilience, New York City, New York.
Objective:
To assess the effect of displacement due to Hurricane Sandy on mental health outcomes among residents of the greater New York City (NYC) area.
Design:
Prospective, cross sectional.
Setting:
NYC area residents, including Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island.
Participants:
In a 4.25 year period (June 2012 to September 2016), a convenience sample of 1,615 adult residents from the greater NYC area completed validated measures of hurricane exposure (including displacement), perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as well as indicators of alcohol, illicit substance, and tobacco use.
Main Outcome Measures:
Perceived stress, depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms and alcohol, illicit substance, and tobacco use.
Results:
Multivariable analyses indicated that displaced participants were more likely to have PTSD (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.21, 95% CI: 1.73-2.82), depression (AOR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.05-1.79) and anxiety symptoms (AOR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.01-1.67) and had a 1.16 unit increase in perceived stress score (SE = 0.38) compared to nondisplaced participants. Staying with friends/family versus at a shelter was significantly associated with a 48 percent decreased odds of having PTSD symptoms (AOR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.31-0.88) and of being a current tobacco user (AOR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.30-0.92).
Conclusions:
Displacement is associated with negative mental health outcomes, particularly displacement to shelters. Disaster preparedness efforts should involve increasing mental health resources to those who are displaced and providing support services within the shelter setting.
More Related Videos
03:19Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
07:31Implementation of a Real-Time Psychosis Risk Detection and Alerting System Based on Electronic Health Records using CogStack
Published on: May 15, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Stress and Mental Health
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
Displacement Current
Position and Displacement
Position and Displacement Vectors
Further, several important kinds of...
Significance of Displacement Current
Angular Velocity and Displacement