Publicly available technologies are only truly 'public' if people are aware of them and know how to use them. In the US, significant resources have been devoted to public education around the recently released ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning (EEW) system operated by the U.S. Geological Survey; however, those efforts have been inconsistently…

The current study aimed to examine posttraumatic growth (PTG) after earthquake victimization. Variables that may be related to PTG were examined by using Model of Life Crises and Personal Growth (Schaefer & Moos, 1992). In order to examine PTG, the roles of demographic variables, event-related variables, environmental factors, system factors,…

Early adverse experiences can hold lasting influence on later life outcomes, particularly during formative developmental periods such as adolescence. The current study evaluates the impact of different kinds of adolescent trauma on later sense of purpose in adulthood, using data from the Hawaii Longitudinal Study of Personality and Health.…

New Zealand has faced an unprecedented series of disaster events in recent years. The Canterbury earthquakes provided an opportunity to document the role that schools played in supporting their communities to respond to and recover from such events. It is important that we capture what we have learnt from these experiences to help other schools in…

The limited evidence regarding disaster-related environmental education programs for children indicates that these programs can increase disaster resilience and family preparedness activities, and reduce children's fear and anxiety. However, the literature lacks qualitative studies to provide insights into children's experiences of disaster…

Background: High impact experiences following a natural disaster have been shown to influence later psychopathology. Individual-level factors such as age may also contribute to a disaster's impact on mental health, though it is unclear whether young age confers a protective effect or represents a period of increased risk as compared to adulthood.…

The authors studied a health promotion program called PM-Prep (Peer-Mentored Prep), which was designed to improve disaster preparedness among adults living independently in the community. PM-Prep consists of four 2-hour classes co-taught by a health educator and peer-mentors. Adults were randomly assigned to an experimental arm or a wait-list…

Does geography have an American constituency? Setbacks for the discipline at all levels of education over the past 65 years would suggest that geography is universally unpopular in the United States, but is that really true? The American Geographical Society (AGS) polled adult US residents on their understanding of the discipline itself and…

How are individuals affected when the communities they live in change for the worse? This question is central to understanding neighborhood effects, but few study designs generate estimates that can be interpreted causally. We address issues of inference through a natural experiment, examining post-traumatic stress at multiple time points in a…

In this article, the authors merge the study of support, strain, and ambivalence in family relationships with the study of stress to explore the ways family members provide support or contribute to strain in the disaster recovery process. The authors analyze interviews with 71 displaced Hurricane Katrina survivors, and identify three family…

Theory and evidence on disaster-induced population displacement have focused on individual and population-subgroup characteristics. Less is known about impacts on households. I estimate excess incidence of household breakup resulting from Hurricane Katrina by comparing a probability sample of pre-Katrina New Orleans resident adult household heads…

It has been shown that child participation can have positive results in the rescue, relief and rehabilitation phases of a disaster. Currently child participation is achieving increased attention as a component of disaster risk reduction (DRR). This paper examines the ongoing dialogues on child participation and reviews pertinent literature…

Immediately following natural disasters, basic needs are provided; however, the long-term needs of individuals are neglected. The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to explore the comprehensive and long-term impact of a natural disaster on vocationally displaced adults, and second, to explore the benefits of using the narrative career…

This article integrates the guidelines of American Red Cross and the "Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide" (Brymer et al., 2006) with adult development theories to demonstrate the promotion of adaptive functioning in adults after a disaster. Case examples and recommendations for counselors working in disaster situations are…

This article presents an overview of adult suicide in the United States and Alabama. This includes the latest available information on the prevalence of suicide in the US and Alabama, demographic characteristics of suicide victims, trends in suicide, and known reasons behind adult suicide. With respect to adult suicide in Alabama, it focuses on…