Typologies of hurricane trauma exposure: a person centered approach

Hurricane María (2017) and the subsequent large-scale migration of Puerto Ricans serve as a stark example of how extreme weather events, population displacement, and equity concerns impact the health of vulnerable populations. The aim of the present study is to examine the classes of hurricane-related experiences among Puerto Rican "María migrants" and to assess the relationship between different types of hurricane exposure and posttraumatic stress.

The present study was conducted with 319 Puerto Rican Hurricane María migrants on the U.S. mainland. Using a person-centered approach, we aimed to identify (1) typologies of hurricane trauma exposure and (2) mapped these latent classes onto positive PTSD screens, sociodemographic characteristics, and geographic location in Puerto Rico at the time of the storm using descriptive spatial analysis tools.

Notwithstanding the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane María across Puerto Rico, the disaster did not affect María migrants equally. We extracted four latent classes of hurricane trauma exposure: (a) Universal Loss (59.2%), (b) Job Loss + No Food/Water (28.7%), (c) Multidimensional Exposure (5.6%), and (d) Universal loss + Injury (6.5%). By far, the highest rates of positive PTSD screens were reported among members of the Multidimensional Exposure (5.6%) class, as 59% of individuals in this class screened positive for PTSD.

Positive PTSD screens are better explained by hurricane trauma typology than by geographic proximity to the hurricane's landfall or remoteness from urban centers. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.