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Natural disasters, resilience-building, and risk: achieving sustainable cities and human settlements

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• Published: 24 May 2023
• Volume 118 , pages 611–640, ( 2023 )

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• Muhammad Tariq Iqbal Khan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8557-3390 1 ,
• Sofia Anwar 1 ,
• Samuel Asumadu Sarkodie 2 ,
• Muhammad Rizwan Yaseen 1 ,
• Abdul Majeed Nadeem 1 &
• Qamar Ali 3  

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Reducing natural disasters and their related economic losses remains critical to achieving sustainable development. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies that assess sustainable cities and human settlements in efforts to attain sustainable development goal 11.5. Here, the present research explains the effect of disaster risk and disaster resilience on human loss due to natural disasters (deaths, injured, and affected) in 90 countries spanning 1995 to 2019. We develop global risk and resilience indices through IMF index-making steps across 24 high, 24 upper-middle, 30 lower-middle, and 12 low-income countries. The negative binomial regression shows an increase in disaster-related loss to human beings (deaths, injured, and affected) due to disaster risk in all panels. The empirical results reveal a favorable impact of disaster resilience––resilience declines disaster-related losses in developed countries. We observe that focusing on basic infrastructure, economic stability, public awareness, hygiene practices, ICT, and effective institutions leads to disaster resilience, mitigation, and speedy post-disaster recovery. Due to the insignificant impact of resilience in developing countries, high-income countries could provide financial resources, modern and DRR technologies, especially to low-income economies. This study encourages countries to follow seven targets and four dimensions of the Sendai Framework to enhance disaster resilience.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters–CRED, Belgium, for access to EM-DAT database.

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Khan, M.T.I., Anwar, S., Sarkodie, S.A. et al. Natural disasters, resilience-building, and risk: achieving sustainable cities and human settlements. Nat Hazards 118 , 611–640 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06021-x

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In 2021, the La Soufrière Volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines erupted explosively. Credit: Steve Wallace/World Bank

Natural hazards, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, landslides, wildfires and droughts are increasing in frequency and intensity, in large part because of climate change ( M. Coronese et al . Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116 , 21450–21455; 2019 ). In 2022, at least one event occurred every day, according to data from EM-DAT, an international disaster database. And a 2021 report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization stated that the “annual occurrence of disasters is now more than three times that of the 1970s and 1980s” (see go.nature.com/43pmeke ).

But natural-hazard events don’t necessarily have to escalate into widespread disasters. Even though they are more common today than they were in the past, the number of deaths from them has drastically declined. In 1920–29, for example, more than 8.5 million people died globally as a result of natural disasters, compared with just over 503,000 in 2010–19, according to data from EM-DAT. This can be attributed partly to improvements in disaster risk reduction and preparedness measures. Nature talked to five disaster researchers about how they are working to reduce the risks and impacts of natural-hazard events.

EROUSCILLA JOSEPH: Volcanic activity under lockdown

Volcanologist at the Seismic Research Centre at the University of the West Indies in Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

Here in the West Indies, we face hurricanes and tropical storms every year, and flooding, landslides and volcanic eruptions are routine. I work for the Seismic Research Centre at the University of the West Indies in Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, which began monitoring seismic and volcanic activity in the region 70 years ago. We cover an area of 800 kilometres, stretching from the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis down to Trinidad and Tobago. We monitor 9 territories and 17 volcanoes.

In 2008, I became the first student to officially graduate with a PhD in volcanology from the centre. In March 2020, COVID-19 hit. That December, the La Soufrière volcano on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines erupted, beginning with a slow extrusion, but becoming explosive on 9 April 2021. It was truly a trial by fire to navigate that process during a pandemic, under lockdown and without vaccines.

Nature Spotlight: Disaster preparedness

Seismic data and information from satellite imagery warned us of unusual activity two days after Christmas. Some staff members at the Soufrière Monitoring Unit of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ National Emergency Management Organisation went up to have a look, and they saw that a new dome had emerged from the floor of the crater. We immediately deployed staff to reactivate the local observatory, upgrade the monitoring network, provide real-time updates to the authorities and support education and outreach related to the volcanic activity ( E. P. Joseph et al . Nature Commun . 13 , 4129; 2022 ).

The eruption started off effusively, and we had to put measures in place to deal with the possibility of it transitioning to explosive. Effusive means that magma erupts at the surface of a volcano and forms a lava flow or dome, whereas explosive describes when magma explodes out of a volcano, often sending ash, gas and lava into the air. On the basis of the data we saw, we provided advice to the prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the government of Barbados and several other disaster-management agencies on the likelihood of an eruption, so that they could raise alert levels and start coordinating a response.

We helped with communication to stakeholders and the public about what was happening and how to prepare. Because of limited resources and the pandemic, the centre’s outreach team had to hold virtual community meetings and use trucks with megaphones to keep people informed. In April 2021, the activity of the volcano began to change. More than 22,000 people were evacuated over a period of 24 hours, just before the explosive eruption began. We rotated teams of scientists on the island until November 2021.

We’re a small agency operating in an under-resourced part of the world, and we were able to respond to this volcanic eruption quickly and before any lives were lost. It was a major success, and our achievement was recognized globally by the 2022 Volcanic Surveillance and Crisis Management Award presented by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior. Things can fall apart easily if there is no coordination between the teams, government and disaster organizations. But if you work together and rely on each other, you can push forward, even in an emergency situation.

Emmanuel Raju’s involvement in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was a career-defining moment. Credit: Courtesy Emmanuel Raju

EMMANUEL RAJU: Stop blaming nature

Global-health researcher at the University of Copenhagen and director of the Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research.

When you grow up in India, you grow up with natural hazards. I’ve seen a number of cyclones and experienced many school closures due to heavy rains in the monsoon season. At the time of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, I was an undergraduate student studying economics, political science and sociology at St. Joseph’s College in Bengaluru. I volunteered to help mobilize support to some of the main areas that were affected. That experience left a big impression on me. When I graduated in 2007, I learnt that the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai had launched a disaster management programme, one of the first of its kind in the region.

Most of my work now deals with trying to challenge conventional notions of how we understand disasters. Disasters are often seen as ‘natural’ in some way, but they occur because of vulnerabilities in society. I work a lot in South Asia. When a disaster occurs, some individuals are disproportionately affected, depending on their social status, caste, religion, gender and other social and economic characteristics. We need to stop blaming nature for the damage caused to the lives and livelihoods of individuals: it is human action and inaction that contribute to many forms of disaster risk.

Another major challenge is breaking disciplinary silos of how disasters are studied. Much of my work at the Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research focuses on bringing together people from various disciplines. You cannot solve issues caused by disasters and climate change with just one discipline. You need different voices from around the world and from many disciplines, including law, economics, physics, social science and health services.

RASHMIN GUNASEKERA: Restoring order after chaos

Disaster risk-management specialist at the World Bank in Washington DC and leader of the Global Program for Disaster Risk Analytics at the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery in Washington DC.

Soon after disasters happen, governments are often left in chaotic situations. Officials need to assess the impacts, so they can make decisions about where to send resources and how to quickly get money to the places that need it. The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery is a partnership set up by the World Bank and funded by 11 countries that helps low- and middle-income countries to manage and reduce risks from natural hazards and climate change.

Lessons learnt from doing research amid a humanitarian crisis

Some of the work I do as part of the programme is to help with rapid assessments of the impact of disasters to give a monetary value to the damages. People go to the field to conduct these assessments, which take about six to eight weeks. Soon after the massive earthquake in Nepal in April 2015, we started using hazard modelling, engineering and census data to estimate the damage remotely. Our assessment methodology has an accuracy of 90% and takes only about two weeks to do.

My work with the World Bank, where I started in 2012, involves assessing risk, which is pivotal for disaster risk reduction and preparedness. It’s a complicated subject area that blends principles of science, technology, engineering and economics. Assessing risk consists of three parts. One is the built-up environment, which captures the types of building in a location, how they are spatially distributed and who lives in them. Another is the type, magnitude and frequency of the hazard itself. The third is vulnerability. I combine these three pieces of information to estimate the future potential for damage.

I strive to build effective partnerships and share knowledge across academia and the private and public sectors. We make our methodology for risk assessment available to anyone who wants to use it. In April, I travelled to Fiji to help some of my colleagues to work out what data sets are available and how to put different types of data together to understand how to represent a built-up environment, and more broadly, how to assess the risk of disaster in this location.

Ultimately, progress can happen only when knowledge is taken up by governments, risk-and disaster-management agencies and academia. I’m still an academic at heart, so one of the most satisfying things to see is the impact of the knowledge you generate.

Emily Chan investigates how extreme events affect human populations. Credit: CCOUC (2016)

EMILY CHAN: Linking human health to the climate

Medical researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and director of the Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response.

As a researcher and practitioner of humanitarian medicine, I try to understand how extreme events might affect human populations. I’ve always been curious about what people do when they experience a disaster such as an earthquake, and why. How do response decision makers and medical workers mobilize resources to help those affected? What do affected people remember, and what do they feel emotional about? Why do researchers choose to document certain information? How do we prevent important knowledge from being carelessly left unrecorded?

A large part of my work involves building models to examine the impact that the climate might have on human health in urban contexts, mostly in Chinese cities. Specifically, I study the impacts of temperature, rainfall, sea-level rise and extreme events on injury, disease, hospitalizations and mortality. For instance, people can have problems with extremely high or low temperatures when they are exposed to them for a prolonged period of time. Rainfall can make freshwater flooding and extreme drought worse, and a rise in sea level can be corrosive and affect the prevalence of infectious diseases such as cholera.

Keep talking to make fieldwork a true team effort

After my colleagues and I began publishing models linking human health to the climate about 10 years ago, we were invited to join a number of committees and talk about our work. Some of our evidence was quoted by the Hong Kong government, and warning policies were changed on the basis of the relationships we found between temperature and mortality ( E. Y. Y. Chan et al. J. Epidemiol. Commun. Health 66 , 322–327; 2012 ).

Developing policies is another crucial part of what I do. I’m one of the co-chairs of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management research group. In 2020, I became a co-chair of the organization’s COVID-19 Social Science working group. When there are major infectious-disease crises globally, researchers and policymakers need to work together to look at the latest evidence and share it with governments so that they can work out what to do in regards to evacuation, lockdowns, isolation, the use of face masks and even ethical research policies.

STERN KITA: An agrarian economy under threat

Disaster and climate-change researcher at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in Lilongwe.

In Malawi, the three most common hazards are flooding, drought and strong winds. Because our economy is agrarian, droughts and pest infestations can cause serious cases of food insecurity. We are also affected by tropical cyclones, landslides, earthquakes, fires and outbreaks of cholera and other diseases. I’m often busy.

I worked for the Malawi government for about 11 years and then joined the United Nations in 2020. My work focuses on mitigation and disaster preparedness measures. For instance, I help to develop early-warning systems so that communities are notified of a hazard in advance. I also support projects that protect riverbanks by planting trees to slow the speed of water during a flood, and we’re working to improve drainage systems in urban areas.

In March and April, I travelled a lot to check in on these projects and to support the government in conducting a needs assessment after tropical cyclone Freddy hit the southern part of Malawi. Raising public awareness and building capacity are key parts of my job. I teach disaster risk management at the Malawi University of Science and Technology in Thyolo, and I am helping to build a team that can coordinate and implement disaster risk reduction actions at various levels in the country.

For me, this work is exciting. You can see the results of your efforts and people becoming more resilient to disasters. We have crises almost every day in almost every country. We need to ensure that we provide as much information as we can to build resilience.

Nature 619 , S1-S3 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02312-2

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

This article is part of Nature Spotlight: Disaster preparedness , an editorially independent supplement. Advertisers have no influence over the content.

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Natural Disasters

Where and from which disasters do people die? What can we do to prevent deaths from natural disasters?

By Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado

This page was first published in December 2022 and last revised in January 2024.

Natural disasters – from earthquakes and floods to storms and droughts – affect millions of people every year. However, we are not defenseless against them, and the global death toll, especially from droughts and floods, has been reduced.

While natural disasters account for a small fraction of all deaths globally , they can have a large impact, especially on vulnerable populations in low-to-middle-income countries with insufficient infrastructure to protect and respond effectively​. Understanding the frequency, intensity, and impact of natural disasters is crucial if we want to be better prepared and protect people’s lives and livelihoods.

On this page, you will find our complete collection of data, charts, and research on natural disasters and their human and economic costs.

See all charts on Natural Disasters ↓

Other research and writing on Natural Disasters on Our World in Data:

• Not all deaths are equal: How many deaths make a natural disaster newsworthy?

Natural disasters data explorer

Natural disasters kill tens of thousands each year.

The number of deaths from natural disasters can be highly variable from year to year; some years pass with very few deaths before a large disaster event claims many lives. On average, over the past couple of decades, natural disasters have annually resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of individuals worldwide.

In the visualizations shown here, we see the annual variability in the number and share of deaths from natural disasters in recent decades.

What we see is that in many years, the number of deaths can be very low – often less than 10,000, and accounting for as low as 0.01% of total deaths. But we also see the devastating impact of shock events: the 1983-85 famine and drought in Ethiopia; the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami ; Cyclone Nargis which struck Myanmar in 2008; and the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake which resulted in approximately 70% of all deaths that year in Haiti. All of these events pushed global disaster deaths to over 200,000 – more than 0.4% of deaths in these years.

Low-frequency, high-impact events such as earthquakes and tsunamis are not preventable, but such high losses of human life are. We know from historical data that the world has seen a significant reduction in disaster deaths through earlier prediction, more resilient infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and response systems. Those at low incomes are often the most vulnerable to disaster events: improving living standards, infrastructure, and response systems in these regions will be key to preventing deaths from natural disasters in the coming decades.

Number of deaths from natural disasters

Annual deaths from natural disasters.

In the visualization shown here, we see the long-term global trend in natural disaster deaths. This shows the estimated annual number of deaths from disasters from 1900 onwards from the EM-DAT International Disaster Database . 1

What we see is that in the early-to-mid 20th century, the annual death toll from disasters was high, often reaching over one million per year. In recent decades we have seen a substantial decline in deaths. Even in peak years with high-impact events, the death toll has not exceeded 500,000 since the mid-1960s.

This decline is even more impressive when we consider the rate of population growth over this period. When we correct for population – showing this data in terms of death rates (measured per 100,000 people) – we see an even greater decline over the past century. This chart can be viewed here .

The annual number of deaths from natural disasters is also available by country since 1990. This can be explored in the interactive map.

Average number of deaths by decade

In the chart, we show global deaths from natural disasters since 1900, but rather than reporting annual deaths, we show the annual average by decade.

As we see, over the course of the 20th century there was a significant decline in global deaths from natural disasters. In the early 1900s, the annual average was often in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 deaths. In the second half of the century and into the early 2000s, we have seen a significant decline to less than 100,000 – at least five times lower than these peaks. This decline is even more impressive when we consider the rate of population growth over this period. When we correct for population – showing this data in terms of death rates (measured per 100,000 people) – then we see a more than 10-fold decline over the past century. This chart can be viewed here .

Number of deaths by type of natural disaster

With almost minute-by-minute updates on what’s happening in the world, we are constantly reminded of the latest disaster. These stories are, of course, important but they do not give us a sense of how the toll of disasters has changed over time.

For most of us, it is hard to know whether any given year was a particularly deadly one in the context of previous years.

To understand the devastating toll of disasters today, and in the past, we have built a Natural Disasters Data Explorer which provides estimates of fatalities, displacement, and economic damage for every country since 1900. This is based on data sourced from EM-DAT; a project that undertakes the important work of building these incredibly detailed histories of disasters. 2

In this visualization, I give a sense of how the global picture has evolved over the last century. It shows the estimated annual death toll – from all disasters at the top, followed by a breakdown by type. The size of the bubble represents the total death toll for that year.

I’ve labeled most of the years with the largest death tolls. This usually provokes the follow-up question: “Why? What event happened?”. So I’ve also noted large-scale events that contributed to the majority – but not necessarily all – of the deaths in that year.

For example, the estimated global death toll from storms in 2008 was approximately 141,000. 138,366 of these deaths occurred in Cyclone Margis, which struck Myanmar and is labeled on the chart.

What we see is that in the 20th century, it was common to have years where the death toll was in the millions. This was usually the result of major droughts or floods. Often these would lead to famines. We look at the long history of famines here .

Improved food security, resilience to other disasters, and better national and international responses mean that the world has not experienced death tolls of this scale in many decades. Famines today are usually driven by civil war and political unrest.

In most years, the death toll from disasters is now in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 people. In the most fatal years – which tend to be those with major earthquakes or cyclones – this can reach tens to hundreds of thousands.

This trend does not mean that disasters have become less frequent, or less intense. It means the world today is much better at preventing deaths from disasters than in the past. This will become increasingly important in our response and adaptation to climate change .

Injuries and displacement from disasters

Human impacts from natural disasters are not fully captured in mortality rates. Injury, homelessness, and displacement can all have a significant impact on populations.

The visualization below shows the number of people displaced internally (i.e. within a given country) from natural disasters. Note that these figures report on the basis of new cases of displaced persons: if someone is forced to flee their home from natural disasters more than once in any given year, they will be recorded only once within these statistics.

Interactive charts on the following global impacts are available using the links below:

• Injuries : The number of people injured is defined as "People suffering from physical injuries, trauma, or an illness requiring immediate medical assistance as a direct result of a disaster."
• Homelessness : The number of people homeless is defined as the "Number of people whose house is destroyed or heavily damaged and therefore need shelter after an event."
• Requiring assistance : The number of people requiring assistance is defined as "People requiring immediate assistance during a period of emergency, i.e. requiring basic survival needs such as food, water, shelter, sanitation, and immediate medical assistance."
• Total number affected : The total number of people affected is defined as "the sum of the injured, affected, and left homeless after a disaster."

Natural disasters by type

Earthquakes, earthquake events.

Earthquake events occur across the world every day. The US Geological Survey (USGS) tracks and reports global earthquakes, with (close to) real-time updates which you can find here .

However, the earthquakes that occur most frequently are often too small to cause significant damage (whether to human life or in economic terms).

In the chart below we show the long history of known earthquakes classified by the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) of the NOAA as 'significant' earthquakes. Significant earthquakes are those which are large enough to cause notable damage. They must meet at least one of the following criteria: caused deaths, moderate damage ($1 million or more), a magnitude 7.5 or greater, Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) X or greater, or generated a tsunami.

Available data — which you can explore in the chart below — extends back to 2150 BC. But we should be aware that the most recent records will be much more complete than our long-run historical estimates. An increase in the number of recorded earthquakes doesn't necessarily mean this was the true trend over time. By clicking on a country in the map below, you can view its full series of known significant earthquakes.

Deaths from earthquakes

Alongside estimates of the number of earthquake events, the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) of the NOAA also publishes estimates of the number of deaths over this long-term series. In the chart below we see the estimated mortality numbers extending back to 1500.

These figures can be found for specific countries using the "change country" function in the bottom-left of the chart, or by selecting the "map" on the bottom right.

At the global level, we see that earthquake deaths have been a persistent human risk through time.

What were the world's deadliest earthquakes?

The number of people dying in natural disasters is lower today than it was in the past, and the world has become more resilient.

Earthquakes, however, can still claim a large number of lives. Whilst historically floods, droughts, and epidemics dominated disaster deaths , a high annual death toll now often results from a major earthquake and possibly a tsunami caused by them. Since 2000, the two peak years in annual death tolls (reaching 100s of thousands) were 2004 and 2010. Both events (the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 2004, and the Port-au-Prince earthquake in 2010) are in the deadliest earthquake rankings below.

What have been the most deadly earthquakes in human history? In the visualization, we have mapped the top 10 rankings of known earthquakes which resulted in the largest number of deaths. 3 This ranking is based on mortality estimates from the NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). 4

Clicking on the visualization will open it in higher resolution. This ranking is also summarized in table form.

The most deadly earthquake in history was in Shaanxi, China in 1556. It's estimated to have killed 830,000 people. This is more than twice that of the second most fatal: the recent Port-au-Prince earthquake in Haiti in 2010. It's reported that 316,000 people died as a result. 5

Two very recent earthquakes — the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 2004, and the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake — feature amongst the most deadly in human history. But equally, some of the most fatal occurred in the very distant past. Making the top three was the earthquake in Antakya (Turkey) in the year 115. Both old and very recent features are near the top of the list. The deadly nature of earthquakes has been a persistent threat throughout our history.

Number of significant volcanic eruptions

There are a large number of volcanoes across the world that are volcanically active but display little or only very low-level activity. In the map, we see the number of significant volcanic eruptions that occur in each country in a given year. A significant eruption is classified as one that meets at least one of the following criteria: caused fatalities, caused moderate damage (approximately $1 million or more), with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6 or larger, caused a tsunami, or was associated with a major earthquake. 6

Estimates of volcanic eruptions are available dating back as early as 1750 BCE, however, the data completeness for long historic events will be much lower than in the recent past.

Deaths from volcanic eruptions

In the visualization, we see the number of deaths from significant volcanic eruptions across the world. Using the timeline on the map we can see the frequency of volcanic activity deaths over time. If we look at deaths over the past century we see several high-impact events: the Nevado del Ruiz eruption in Colombia in 1985; the Mount Pelée eruption in Martinique in 1902; and the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia.

This visualization – sourced from the NASA Socioeconomic Data And Applications Center (SEDAC) – shows the distribution of mortality risk from landslides across the world. As we would expect, the risks of landslides are much greater close to highly mountainous regions with dense neighboring populations. This makes the mortality risk highest across the Andes region in South America, and the Himalayas across Asia.

Famines & Droughts

We cover the history of Famines in detail in our dedicated entry here . For this research, we assembled a global dataset on famines dating back to the 1860s.

In the visualization shown here, we see trends in drought severity in the United States. Given is the annual data of drought severity, plus the 9-year average. This is measured by the Palmer Drought Severity Index: the average moisture conditions observed between 1931 and 1990 at a given location are given an index value of zero. A positive value means conditions are wetter than average, while a negative value is drier than average. A value between -2 and -3 indicates moderate drought, -3 to -4 is severe drought, and -4 or below indicates extreme drought.

Hurricanes, Tornados, and Cyclones

Long-term trends in deaths from us weather events.

Trends in the US provide some of the most complete data on impacts and deaths from weather events over time. This chart shows death rates from lightning and other weather events in the United States over time. Death rates are given as the number of deaths per million individuals. Over this period, we see that on average each has seen a significant decline in death rates. This is primarily the result of improved infrastructure and predicted and response systems to disaster events.

Intensity of North Atlantic Hurricanes

A key metric for assessing hurricane severity is their intensity and the power they carry. The visualizations here use two metrics to define this: the accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), an index that measures the activity of a cyclone season; and the power dissipation index of cyclones.

Extreme precipitation and flooding

Precipitation anomalies.

In the visualization shown, we see the global precipitation anomaly each year; trends in the US-specific anomaly can be found here .

This precipitation anomaly is measured relative to the century average from 1901 to 2000. Positive values indicate a wetter year than normal; negative values indicate a drier year.

Also shown is US-specific data on the share of land area that experiences unusually high precipitation in any given year.

Precipitation extremes

We can look at precipitation anomalies over the course of the year, however, flooding events are often caused by intense rainfall over much shorter periods. Flooding events tend to occur when there is extremely high rainfall for hours or days.

The visualization here shows the extent of extreme one-day precipitation in the US. What we see is a general upward trend in the extent of extreme rainfall in recent decades.

Extreme Temperature (Heat & Cold)

Extreme temperature risks to human health and mortality can result from exposure to extreme heat and cold.

Heatwaves and high temperatures

In the visualizations shown here, we see long-term data on heatwaves and unusually high temperatures in the United States.

Overall we see there is significant year-to-year variability in the extent of heatwave events. What stands out over the past century of data was the 1936 North American heatwave – one of the most extreme heat wave events in modern history, which coincided with the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

When we look at the trajectory of unusually high summer temperatures over time (defined as 'unusually high' in the context of historical records) we see an upward trend in recent decades.

Cold temperatures

Whilst we often focus on the heatwaves and warm temperatures in relation to weather extremes, extremely low temperatures can often have a high toll on human health and mortality. In the visualization here we show trends in the share of US land area experiencing unusually low winter temperatures. In recent years there appears to have been a declining trend in the extent of the US experiencing particularly cold winters.

US Wildfires

How are the frequency and extent of wildfires in the United States changing over time?

In the charts below we provide three overviews: the number of wildfires, the total acres burned, and the average acres burned per wildfire. This data is shown from 1983 onwards when comparable data recording began.

Over the past 30-35 years we notice three general trends in the charts below (although there is significant year-to-year variability):

• on average, the annual number of wildfires has not changed much;
• on average, the total acres burned has increased from the 1980s and 1990s into the 21st century;
• The combination of these two factors suggests that the average number of acres burned per wildfire has increased.

There has been significant media coverage of the long-run statistics of US wildfires reported by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The original statistics are available back to the year 1926. When we look at this long-term series it suggests there has been a significant decline in acres burned over the past century. However, the NIFC explicitly states:

Prior to 1983, sources of these figures were not known, or could not be confirmed, and were not derived from the current situation reporting process. As a result, the figures prior to 1983 should not be compared to later data.

Representatives from the NIFC have again confirmed (see the Carbon Brief's coverage here ) that these historic statistics are not comparable to those since 1983. The lack of reliable methods of measurement and reporting means some historical statistics may in fact be double or triple-counted in national statistics.

This means we cannot compare the recent data below with old, historic records. But it also doesn't confirm that acres burned today are higher than in the first half of the 20th century. Historically, fires were an often-used method of clearing land for agriculture, for example. It's not implausible to expect that wildfires of the past may have been larger than today but the available data is not reliable enough to confirm this.

Long-term trends in US lightning strikes

This chart shows the declining death rate due to lightning strikes in the US. In the first decade of the 20th century, the average annual rate of deaths was 4.5 per million people in the US. In the first 15 years of the 21st century, the death rate had declined to an average of 0.12 deaths per million. This is a 37-fold reduction in the likelihood of being killed by lightning in the US.

Lightning strikes across the world

The map here shows the distribution of lightning strikes across the world. This is given as the lightning strike density – the average number of strikes per square kilometer each year. In particular, we see the high frequency of strikes across the Equatorial regions, especially across central Africa.

Economic costs

Global disaster costs.

Natural disasters not only have devastating impacts in terms of the loss of human life but can also cause severe destruction with economic costs. When we look at global economic costs over time in absolute terms we tend to see rising costs. But, importantly, the world – and most countries – have also gotten richer . Global gross domestic product has increased more than four-fold since 1970. We might therefore expect that for any given disaster, the absolute economic costs could be higher than in the past.

A more appropriate metric to compare economic costs over time is to look at them in relation to GDP. This is the indicator adopted by all countries as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to monitor progress on resilience to disaster costs.

In the chart, we see global direct disaster losses given as a share of GDP.

Disaster costs by country

Since economic losses from disasters in relation to GDP is the indicator adopted by all countries within the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this data is also now reported for each country.

The map shows direct disaster costs for each country as a share of its GDP. Here we see large variations by country. This data can be found in absolute terms here .

Link between poverty and deaths from natural disasters

One of the major successes over the past century has been the dramatic decline in global deaths from natural disasters – this is despite the fact that the human population has increased rapidly over this period.

Behind this improvement has been the improvement in living standards; access to and development of resilient infrastructure; and effective response systems. These factors have been driven by an increase in incomes across the world.

What remains true today is that populations in low-income countries – those where a large percentage of the population still lives in extreme poverty or score low on the Human Development Index – are more vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters.

We see this effect in the visualization shown. This chart shows the death rates from natural disasters – the number of deaths per 100,000 population – of countries grouped by their socio-demographic index (SDI). SDI is a metric of development, where low SDI denotes countries with low standards of living.

What we see is that the large spikes in death rates occur almost exclusively for countries with a low or low-middle SDI. Highly developed countries are much more resilient to disaster events and therefore have a consistently low death rate from natural disasters.

Note that this does not mean low-income countries have high death tolls from disasters year-to-year: the data here shows that in most years they also have very low death rates. But when low-frequency, high-impact events do occur they are particularly vulnerable to its effects.

Overall development, poverty alleviation, and knowledge-sharing of how to increase resilience to natural disasters will therefore be key to reducing the toll of disasters in the decades to come.

Definitions & Metrics

Hurricanes, cyclones & typhoons.

There are multiple terms used to describe extreme weather events: hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, and tornadoes. What is the difference between these terms, and how are they defined?

The terms  hurricane ,  cyclone, and  typhoon all refer to the same thing; they can be used interchangeably. Hurricanes and typhoons are both described as the weather phenomenon 'tropical cyclone'. A tropical cyclone is a weather event that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and results in a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms. Its circulation patterns should be closed and low-level.

The choice of terminology is location-specific and depends on where the storm originates. The term  hurricane is used to describe a tropical cyclone that originates in the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific. When it originates in the Northwest Pacific, we call it a typhoon . In the South Pacific and Indian Ocean the general term  tropical cyclone  is used.

In other words, the only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is where it occurs.

When does a storm become a hurricane?

The characteristics of a hurricane are described in detail on the NASA website .

A hurricane evolves from a tropical disturbance or storm based on a threshold of wind speed.

A tropical disturbance arises over warm ocean waters. It can grow into a tropical depression which is an area of rotating thunderstorms with winds up to 62 kilometers (38 miles) per hour. From there, a depression evolves into a tropical storm if its wind speed reaches 63 km/hr (39 mph).

Finally, a hurricane is formed when a tropical storm reaches a wind speed of 119 km/hr (74 mph).

Difference between hurricanes and tornadoes

But, hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones  are distinctly different from tornadoes.

Whilst hurricanes and tornadoes have a characteristic circulatory wind pattern, they are very different weather systems. The main difference between the systems is scale (tornadoes are small-scale circulatory systems; hurricanes are large-scale). These differences are highlighted in the table below:

Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)

The intensity or size of volcanic eruptions is most commonly defined by a metric termed the 'volcanic explosivity index (VEI)'. The VEI is derived based on the erupted mass or deposit of an eruption. The scale for VEI was outlined by Newhall & Self (1982) but is now commonly adopted in geophysical reporting. 7

The table below provides a summary (from the NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center ) of the characteristics of eruptions of different VEI values. A 'Significant Volcanic Eruption' is often defined as an eruption with a VEI value of 6 or greater. Historic eruptions that were definitely explosive, but carry no other descriptive information are assigned a default VEI of 2.

Interactive charts on natural disasters

Data quality, number of reported disaster events.

A key issue of data quality is the consistency of even reporting over time. For long-term trends in natural disaster events, we know that reporting and recording of events today is much more advanced and complete than in the past. This can lead to significant underreporting or uncertainty of events in the distant past. In the chart here we show data on the number of reported natural disasters over time.

This change over time can be influenced by several factors, namely the increased coverage of reporting over time. The increase over time is therefore not directly reflective of the actual trend in disaster events.

Number of reported disasters by type

This same data is shown here as the number of reported disaster events by type. Again, the incompleteness of historical data can lead to significant underreporting in the past. The increase over time is therefore not directly reflective of the actual trend in disaster events.

EMDAT (2019): OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Université Catholique de Louvain – Brussels – Belgium

EM-DAT, CRED / UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium – www.emdat.be (D. Guha-Sapir)

Since two events are ranked equally in 8th place, a total of 11 are included.

National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): Significant Earthquake Database. National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA. Available at:  https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/search .

The death toll of the Haitian earthquake is still disputed. Here we present the adopted figure by the NGDC of the NOAA (for consistency with other earthquakes); this is the figure reported by the Haitian government. Some sources suggest a lower figure of 220,000. In the latter case, this event would fall to 7th place in the above rankings.

This data is sourced from the Significant Volcanic Eruption Database is a global listing of over 500 significant eruptions.

Newhall, C.G. and Self, S (1982). The volcanic explosivity index (VEI): an estimate of explosive magnitude for historical volcanism. Jour Geophys Res (Oceans & Atmospheres) , 87:1231-1238. Available at:  https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JC087iC02p01231 .

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Disaster Risk and Resilience

For decades, the U.S. National Science Foundation has invested in fundamental research to understand and predict natural hazards and promote resilience.

Each year, extreme events — such as storms, wildfires, floods, heat waves, earthquakes and landslides — claim lives, devastate communities and strain social systems ranging from healthcare to food supplies.

While threats from natural disasters and other hazards cannot be eliminated, research can reduce vulnerabilities and increase community resilience.

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NSF–funded research has helped improve the capabilities of the national radar network, which produces weather forecasting and provides advanced warning of impending storms.

Earthquake monitoring

NSF is a part of the Global Seismographic Network, state-of-the-art sensors that extend across the globe and even to the oceans' depths — serving as an early-warning system for earthquakes and tsunamis.

Building standards for fires

Research funded by NSF and the National Institute of Standards and Technology led to the development of new drapery and construction standards that help save lives during fires.

Forecasting volcanic eruptions

NSF funded the development of Earth- and space-based technologies that help forecast and detect volcanic eruptions.

What we support

Fundamental research

We support research that yields insights into natural hazards — such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, coastal erosion, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, volcanoes, emerging epidemics, and disruption of the power grid by space weather — and methods to reduce their harmful impacts.

Research infrastructure

We support the development of state-of-the-art facilities and testbeds across the U.S. to expand knowledge of natural hazards and test new technologies for resilience.

Education and workforce development

We support the creation of a diverse workforce ready to design, implement and manage innovative solutions to natural disasters, hazards and climate change.

Partnerships to accelerate progress

We partner with other federal agencies, industry and nonprofits to share data, tools, expertise and other resources; strengthen workforce development; and translate research into products and services that benefit society.

Featured funding

America's Seed Fund (SBIR/STTR)

Supports startups and small businesses to translate research into products and services — including environmental technologies  — for the public good.

Biodiversity on a Changing Planet

Supports design and implementation projects studying functional biodiversity in the context of unprecedented environmental change.

Centers for Research and Innovation in Science, the Environment and Society

Invites planning proposals for interdisciplinary research to create evidence-based solutions that strengthen human resilience, security, and quality of life by addressing seemingly intractable challenges that confront society.

Civic Innovation Challenge

Supports planning and implementation of community-university partnerships for significant near-term impacts in one of two focus areas: building climate-resilient communities and bridging the gap between essential resources and services and community needs.

Combustion and Fire Systems

Supports research on combustion and fire prediction and mitigation. Priority areas include basic combustion science, combustion science related to clean energy, wildland fire prediction and prevention, and turbulence-chemistry interactions.

Confronting Hazards, Impacts and Risks for a Resilient Planet

Invites projects focusing on innovative and transformative research to advance Earth system hazard knowledge and risk mitigation in partnership with affected communities.

Engineering for Civil Infrastructure

Supports fundamental research in infrastructure materials and architectural, geotechnical and structural engineering. Focus areas include geomaterials and geostructures, structural materials, structural and non-structural systems, and building envelopes.

Humans, Disasters and the Built Environment

Supports fundamental research on the interactions between humans and the built environment within and among communities exposed to natural disasters, pandemics and other hazards.

Modeling of Catastrophic Impacts and Risk Assessment Due to Climate Change

Supports the creation of an industry-university research partnership focused on modeling catastrophic impacts and risk assessment of climate change, targeting the needs of the financial and insurance sectors of the economy.

Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies

Supports research, implementation and education projects involving multi-sector teams that focus on the responsible design, development or deployment of technologies.

Smart and Connected Communities

Supports use-inspired research that addresses communities' social, economic and environmental challenges. Projects must work with community stakeholders on pilots that integrate intelligent technologies with the natural and built environments.

Strengthening American Infrastructure

Supports research that incorporates scientific insights about human behavior and social dynamics to better design, develop, rehabilitate and maintain strong and effective American infrastructure.

NSF directorates supporting disaster-related research

Engineering (eng), geosciences (geo), biological sciences (bio), social, behavioral and economic sciences (sbe), computer and information science and engineering (cise), mathematical and physical sciences (mps), stem education (edu), integrative activities (oia), international science and engineering (oise), technology, innovation and partnerships (tip), featured news.

Wildfires transform aquatic ecosystems, with implications for wildlife and water quality

New model adds human reactions to flood risk assessment

Scientists isolate early-warning tremor pattern in lab-made earthquakes

Additional resources.

• National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Strategic Plan Outlines a coordinated federal program of earthquake monitoring, research, implementation and outreach in collaboration with other organizations.
• National Ecological Observatory Network A continental-scale ecological observatory with sensor networks, instrumentation, observational sampling, natural history archives and remote sensing.
• National Center for Atmospheric Research Supports research in atmospheric and geospace science, environmental sciences and geosciences.
• National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program Strategic Plan Outlines a coordinated federal program of windstorm research, development, implementation and outreach in collaboration with other organizations.
• Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Supports state-of-the-art research facilities, like the world's largest outdoor experimental earthquake facility, to study natural hazards.
• NSF CONVERGE Natural Hazards Center Advances the ethical conduct and scientific rigor of hazards and disaster research and strengthens networks between research communities.
• U.S. Global Change Research Program A coordinated federal approach to research on the forces shaping the global environment and their impacts on society.
• WIFIRE Uses Big Data from cameras, weather stations, topography and other sources to quickly predict where wildfires will spread.
• Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center Conducts wildfire research with the goal of improving tools and strategies used by communities and first responders to address wildfires.
• "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022" The act authorizes historic investments in use-inspired, solutions-oriented research and innovation in key technology focus areas.

• Frontiers in Public Health
• Public Mental Health
• Research Topics

Natural Disasters and Mental Health Consequences

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Natural Disasters are large-scale events that are often unexpected and cause death, trauma, and destruction of property. Disasters affect millions of people around the globe every year. Many studies reported there were increased short term and long-term mental health consequences, such as depression, post ...

Keywords : Natural Disasters, Mental Health, Depression, PTSD

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Wildfires Used to Die Down after Dark. Drought Has Changed That

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Tornadoes, Floods and Hurricanes Loom, but the Government Is Running Out of Money to Help

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster response fund could run out this summer. It dealt with a similar situation last year, which led to a slowdown in rebuilding projects

Thomas Frank, E&E News

Extreme Weather in U.S. Displaced 2.5 Million People Last Year

The Census Bureau found that among nearly 2.5 million people displaced last year in the U.S. by tornadoes, wildfires and hurricanes, socially vulnerable groups were more strongly represented

Tricia Wachtendorf, James Kendra, The Conversation US

Extreme Weather Events Raise Death Rates for Weeks

Emergency room visits and deaths can be heightened for weeks after a major extreme weather event, according to a new study

Ariel Wittenberg, E&E News

How Texas’s Smokehouse Creek Wildfire Just Grew into the Largest in State History

More than one million acres are burning in Texas after freezes, dry weather and winds

Una temporada de incendios sin precedentes arrasa uno de los puntos calientes de biodiversidad de la Tierra

En Colombia han ardido más de 500 incendios, incluso en sus delicados y únicos humedales del altiplano, uno de los ecosistemas de más rápida evolución de la Tierra

Quentin Septer

Unprecedented Fire Season Has Raged Through One of Earth’s Biodiversity Hotspots

More than 500 fires have burned across Colombia, including in its delicate and unique highland wetlands, one of the fastest evolving ecosystems on Earth

How El Niño Will Influence 2024 Weather

The strong El Niño pattern that made 2023 particularly hot is finally starting to weaken, which scientists expect will conclude by late spring. What does that mean for weather this year?

Paul Roundy, The Conversation US

Fighting, Fleeing and Living on Iceland’s Erupting Volcano

Residents of Grindavík hope hastily constructed walls of old volcanic rock will divert hot lava streaming from fissures in the ground beneath them

EL Education Curriculum

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• ELA G5:M4:U1:L2

Launching Research of Natural Disasters

In this lesson, daily learning targets, ongoing assessment.

• Technology and Multimedia

Supporting English Language Learners

Universal design for learning, closing & assessments, you are here:.

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• ELA G5:M4:U1

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

• W.5.7: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
• W.5.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
• I can cite evidence from a source to support answers to my research questions. ( W.5.7, W.5.8 )
• Natural Disasters Research Note-catcher ( W.5.7, W.5.8 )
• Expert Group Natural Disaster signs by writing the name of each expert group natural disaster on a piece of paper: earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. Post in separate areas of the room.
• Group the Infer the Topic Resources as follows and post by the Expert Group Natural Disaster signs:
• Earthquakes: Resources 4, 5, 6, 17,
• Hurricanes: Resources 1, 2, 3, 18
• Tornadoes: Resources 7, 8, 15, 19
• Volcanoes: Resources 9, 10, 14, 21
• Tsunamis: Resources 11, 12, 13, 20
• Technology necessary for students to access the links provided on the Natural Disaster Video Links sheet (see Materials).
• Review the Independent Reading: Sample Plans in preparation for launching independent reading in the Closing (see the Tools page ).
• Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials).

Tech and Multimedia

• Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families, to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families, and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.
• Work Time C: Students use web research to answer research questions. There is a page of links (Natural Disaster Video Links) provided for them to quickly locate the videos.
• Consider that YouTube, social media video sites, and other website links may incorporate inappropriate content via comment banks and ads. Although some lessons include these links as the most efficient means to view content in preparation for the lesson, preview links and/or use a filter service, such as www.safeshare.tv , for viewing these links in the classroom.
• Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 5.I.C.10 Important points in the lesson itself
• The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs by allowing them to choose which natural disaster they will research, develop their own research questions, and work closely with an expert group to conduct their research. The offering of choice and supportive group work will increase students' motivation and level of engagement as they research their natural disaster during this unit and across the module.
• ELLs may find it challenging to generate research questions before they have chosen a natural disaster to research. Remind them of the research they conducted in Module 2, and guide the process for developing questions for this module as much as possible. Additionally, ELLs may find it challenging to identify relevant information in their expert group video to answer the research questions (see Levels of Support and the Meeting Students' Needs column)

Levels of support

For lighter support:

• After adding unfamiliar vocabulary words to the Academic Word Wall during Work Time A, invite students to use each word in a sentence with context. This will support their understanding of each word, as well as provide additional context for each word for students who need heavier support.

For heavier support:

• Consider introducing students to the natural disasters and allowing them to decide which one to research prior to the lesson. Allow students to view the videos and review their notes before deciding. Invite them to prioritize two natural disasters to allow for flexibility when strategically grouping students during Work Time B.
• Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): In order to facilitate effective learning during this lesson, ensure that all students have access to the directions in each activity, and feel comfortable with the expectations. Vary the ways in which you convey expectations for each activity or task. Consider engaging in a clarifying discussion about the directions, or creating an outline of the steps for each activity.
• Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): Continue to support a range of fine motor abilities and writing need by offering students options for writing utensils. Alternatively, consider supporting students' expressive skills by offering partial dictation of student responses. Recall that varying tools for construction and composition supports students' ability to express information gathered from the text.
• Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Throughout this lesson, students have opportunities to share ideas and thinking with classmates. Some students may need support for engagement during these activities, so encourage self-regulatory skills by helping them anticipate and manage frustration by modeling what to do if they need help from their partners. Consider offering sentence frames to strategically selected peer models. Recall that offering these supports for engagement promotes a safe learning space for all students

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

credible, affect, experience, relevant (L)

• Module Guiding Questions anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
• Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begin Module 1)
• Performance Task anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
• Natural Disasters Research note-catcher (one per student and one to display)
• Natural Disasters Research note-catcher (example, for teacher reference)
• Academic Word Wall (begun in Module 1)
• Domain-Specific Word Wall (begun in Lesson 1)
• Vocabulary log (from Module 1; one per student)
• Expert Group Natural Disaster signs (to display; see Teaching Notes)
• Infer the Topic resources (from Lesson 1; to display)
• Natural Disaster video links (one per student and one to display)
• Independent Reading: Sample Plans (for teacher reference; see the Tools page )

Materials from Previous Lessons

New materials.

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Copyright © 2013-2024 by EL Education, New York, NY.

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10 Investigative Questions to Ask after a Natural Disaster

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The disastrous February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria has reminded the world’s journalists that, increasingly, “natural disasters” are not entirely natural — and are often made far worse by human missteps, neglect, or corruption.

For instance, while dozens of building contractors linked to collapsed buildings have been arrested in Turkey, many of those structures were never strengthened due to reckless amnesty laws pushed through by politicians and other officials who have not been held accountable.

As of mid-February, at least 40,000 people had died — a toll made much worse by this enabled neglect, according to experts.

Given the impact of climate change, corruption, and the erosion of democratic institutions in the past decade, it is more important than ever that watchdog reporters actively investigate the aftermath of floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and typhoons, and hold key players to account — whether remotely or in the field.

The founder of the Nepal Investigative Multimedia Journalism Network , journalist Rajneesh Bhandari , covered the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake for The New York Times , National Geographic, and other outlets. That event killed about 9,000 people.

“I was at a traffic police station using their internet to send my first story out ,” he recalls of a video piece he did for The Times.

Bhandari says disaster investigations feature many of the classic watchdog methods, such as databases and remote sensing tools , social media search , and following the money — especially, he says, in the reconstruction phase, where the potential for corruption is high. However, he notes that these stories require extra effort by investigative journalists: to report from the field (or partner with a collaborator on site); to show empathy for survivors and grieving families; and to continue asking new and creative questions in the weeks and months after the event.

A good starting point for watchdog reporters is to eliminate the idea that damage from a natural disaster like the earthquakes in Turkey is simply because of “acts of nature.” Think of it, instead, as a mix of hazardous events and human actions . And then start following the forensic trails: the money, the people, the unforeseen needs, the accountable officials. Your investigation may well be the first to point out what really happened, and potentially save lives in the future.

With that in mind, here are 10 questions for investigative editors and reporters to ask — of their sources, and of themselves.

Image: Screenshot, Centre for Investigative Journalism, Nepal

1. Where did the relief money go — and where are the choke points that stop the flow? Disasters trigger the release of millions of dollars in aid, reconstruction grants, and relief resources. In addition to cases of corruption, journalists have often revealed alarming distribution mistakes and systemic delivery failures that divert or stall that money. The Centre for Investigative Journalism, Nepal, produced an outstanding watchdog story on choke-points in reconstruction funding, following Nepal’s devastating earthquake in 2015, which showed that only 3% of the money had helped displaced survivors after 21 months. Key money-trail questions to ask: “Who are the key figures in the distribution chain — and who has oversight?,” “Have emergency provisions or food been stolen or diverted to black market economies?,” and “How were private service providers chosen, and did they deliver on those contracts?”

2. Was the disaster made worse by human actions — before and after the event? This single question can trigger numerous investigative angles — from quick stories on planning failures and communication foul-ups to the longer-term effects of climate change. With few exceptions, natural disasters are generally foreseeable and can be mitigated with planning, resource allocation, and — in cases like hurricane storm surges, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis — even timely public warnings. And damage and loss of life can be limited by effective and coordinated government mobilization, as was seen in the successful response to the 7.1 magnitude Canterbury earthquake in New Zealand in 2010 — which killed only one person.

3. Could the disaster have caused leaks or toxic contamination from nearby sites? The Fukushima nuclear disaster — and the technical and communication errors involved — following the 2011 tsunami in Japan is the best-known example. But earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis can trigger ripple effects like contamination from damaged oil refineries, military bases, and chemical plants, which are often not revealed without journalistic digging.

4. Was the death toll exacerbated by corruption or cronyism ? According to one study in the journal Nature , 83% of all deaths from collapsed buildings due to earthquakes in recent decades occurred in countries characterized by systemic corruption. The authors noted that poor construction practices are “largely to blame for turning moderate earthquakes into major disasters.” In other cases, irresponsible leaders have installed incompetent cronies in critical emergency response posts, while corruption and the illicit diversion of relief funds have led to further loss of life, as allegedly occurred after Pakistan’s massive floods in 2022.

5. What does the data say about problems at emergency management agencies, or in disparities in disaster assistance? In 2021, Washington Post data journalist Andrew Ba Tran dug deeply into government databases to show that the rate of assistance approvals from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)  plunged from 63% in 2010 to just 13% in 2021. The team also compared assistance data with race categories in census data to show that assistance had been systematically denied to Black disaster survivors in America’s “Deep South.”

6. How can we report on apparent looting and lawlessness among survivors in an ethical way? Not precisely an investigative angle, but worth noting nonetheless: Be careful about stereotypes and bias. As researcher Nadia Dawisha found in an analysis of news coverage of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster in the US , Black survivors were often described in terms of lawlessness, while white survivors were portrayed as seeking help. She pointed out how one African-American person seen carrying food from a store was described as a “looter,” while a white person doing the same was “finding food.” Experts stress that journalists should take care to avoid stereotypes, and to report on looting-type incidents in the context of the conditions facing each affected community.

7. What can we learn from the new emergency response players? As Josephine Schmidt, executive editor of The New Humanitarian, told GIJN , disaster response – and the “ $30 billion humanitarian aid industry ” — are no longer the exclusive business of governments, the United Nations, and “big aid.” They now include private individuals, online communities, and even volunteer firefighters who travel to disasters at their own expense. These players can provide important and credible independent facts, valuable access, and even act as whistleblowers.

8. What public health threats could be triggered by the initial disaster? New conditions created by disasters — especially contaminated drinking water and sanitation failures — have often created new waves of deaths from disease after natural disasters. In addition, disruptions to critical everyday health services — from tuberculosis tablets to prenatal care and ventilators — need to be closely examined.

9. Who is exploiting the disaster? Past disasters have seen an alarming variety of opportunists emerge — from ideological disinformers to corrupt officials and scammers posing as victims to hijack donations online. Weeks after the Haiti earthquake in 2010, an off-duty official at Port-au-Prince’s damaged international airport attempted to extort this reporter and a private pilot in exchange for our right to leave, causing the pilot to have to taxi the plane away from a violent gang summoned by that official.

10. What are we missing here? From the lack of skilled artisans needed for reconstruction projects to poor communities dumped in the path of likely calamities, the issues that follow disasters are so numerous they require regular editorial brainstorming. Let us know if you have ideas to add, and we’ll integrate them into a larger disaster investigations guide we’re working on.

Additional Resources

How to Report on Disasters

Resources for Finding and Using Satellite Images

Climate Crisis: Ideas for Investigative Journalists

Rowan Philp is GIJN’s senior reporter. He was formerly chief reporter for South Africa’s Sunday Times . As a foreign correspondent, he has covered natural disasters that include the 2000 floods in Mozambique, the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

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Impact of Natural Disasters on Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on the 2014 China Family Panel Survey

1 Department of Economics, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China; moc.361@omiteujn

Yunzhi Zhang

2 Faculty of Law, Economic, and Management, LEO-University of Orléans, 45067 Orléans, France

3 Law School, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China; moc.621@gnikehziad

Associated Data

Data used in this paper can be found from the China Family Panel Survey, http://www.isss.pku.edu.cn/cfps/ (accessed on 30 December 2021).

Mental health problems are a leading cause of disability in both developed and developing countries, and the consequences of mental health disorders for individuals, families, and society as a whole could be severe and costly. To supplement relevant research and provide insightful policy suggestions to families, government and societies, this study investigates the nexus between natural disasters and mental health for middle-aged and older adults in rural China. Based on data of 8721 observations from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies, we estimate the effects of natural disasters on mental health using ordinary least squares and propensity score matching. Our findings suggest that natural disasters have a significant negative effect on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health in the case of rural China. This effect is heterogeneous depending on individuals’ education level and their agricultural production status. Finally, individuals’ happiness and life satisfaction are shown to be the potential mechanism through which the effect of natural disasters on mental health operates.

1. Introduction

Natural disasters, which are a possible result of global warming, play a crucial role in the relationship between humans and nature. For this reason, natural disasters have been widely studied, with researchers exploring their impact on society and aspects such as household finance, poverty, family violence, the macroeconomy, and energy consumption [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. It is obvious that natural disasters threaten people’s lives and physical health; however, little attention has been paid to their impact on mental health. Natural disasters can cause anxiety, sleep disturbances, impaired interpersonal relationships, and depression, among other mental problems [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].

The importance of mental health is confirmed by the World Health Organization [ 10 ], which states that: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Mental health is closely related to daily life and work, and it affects our attitude to life and work productivity. Research also indicates that mental illness can be costly for individuals and society [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Serious mental illness can even lead to suicide. Globally, around 703,000 people die by suicide every year (World Health Organization, 2021) [ 10 ]. Hence, exploring the causes of mental health problems is crucial for the well-being of individuals, their families, and society as a whole.

Given the importance of mental health, the determinants of mental health problems attract scholars’ interests. Most of the research focuses on the impact of human activity on mental health. For example, Ettner [ 17 ] found that an increase in individuals’ income can improve their mental health. In contrast, unemployment has a negative impact on mental health, a relationship that has been investigated by Scutella and Wooden [ 18 ]. Furthermore, Chen and Fang [ 19 ] reveal that China’s one-child policy has a negative impact on elderly people’s mental health. Apart from the abovementioned aspects, external shocks—such as economic shocks and war—can also affect mental health [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Recent trends have led to a proliferation of studies about the link between environment and health.

Environmental problems represent one of the most pressing concerns for global health in the 21st century. Specifically, it has been shown that air pollution can exacerbate respiratory or heart disease, among others [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Employing two-stage least squares estimation with data from the China Migrant Dynamic Survey, Gu et al. [ 27 ] found that poor air quality could cause tension, depression, and irritability, which could further harm mental health. Compared with air pollution, natural disasters are difficult to control and deal with for human beings. Some studies investigate the possible impact of specific natural disasters on mental health. For example, Yokoyama et al. [ 28 ] found that earthquakes and tsunamis have a negative impact on disaster survivors. The study of Gissurardóttir et al. [ 29 ] indicates that exposure to a volcanic eruption may cause mental health disorders. After the outbreak of COVID-19, most analyses focused on the impact of the pandemic on mental health. Pfefferbaum and North [ 30 ] found that the COVID-19 pandemic may result in a negative impact on individuals’ mental health. This result was also confirmed by Zhang and Ma [ 31 ], Yao et al. [ 32 ] and Li et al. [ 33 ]. Furthermore, many studies explore temperature as a factor that can impact mental health [ 16 , 34 , 35 , 36 ] or even lead to suicide [ 37 ]. Although the existing literature has investigated the determinants of mental health from different perspectives, little attention has been paid to the essential role of natural disasters affecting humans’ mental health in rural China.

This paper seeks to fill a gap in the related literature and to understand the relationship between natural disasters and human beings. We employ data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) [ 38 ] in 2014 to identify the impact of natural disasters on mental health for middle-aged and older adults in rural China. We focus on rural China for three reasons. First, given the vulnerability of the infrastructure in China, natural disasters have a more devasting potential to affect this country. Over the years, economic development has been China’s main goal, with individual interests being subordinated to the collective interest. The huge population base detracts from the value of the individual, not to mention the importance of their health. Second, natural disasters have a longer and more persistent destructive impact on rural regions’ infrastructure than in urban regions. Third, natural disasters directly influence farmers’ daily life and work. Moreover, middle-aged, and older people constitute the main source of labor for most families in China. Another reason that we focus on this cohort is that China is rapidly aging. The seventh Population Census (2021) [ 39 ] shows that the share of people over 60 in the total population is 18.7%, accounting for 264 million people. This number has increased by 5.44%, compared to 2010. The mental health problems of middle-aged and older adults can affect the quality of development in China.

The novelty of this paper is four-fold. First, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to investigate the impact of natural disasters on mental health for the case of a developing country: China. Previous studies focused on the impact of a specific disaster, such as heat, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes on mental health [ 9 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Our research investigates the general impact of natural disasters as an external shock on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. Secondly, we address the impact on a particular cohort; specifically, middle-aged and older people in a rural region, which is important to discuss regarding this issue. Third, we examine the heterogeneity of effects by splitting the sample into different education levels and agricultural production status. These results help us to understand the heterogeneity of the impact of natural disasters on mental health. Finally, existing studies fail to provide mechanisms as to how the natural disaster could impact mental health [ 43 , 44 ]. This paper reveals that natural disasters could affect mental health through the influence of happiness and life satisfaction.

The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. In Section 2 , we describe the study design, statistical analysis, data, and methodology. The empirical analysis is reported in Section 3 . In Section 4 we discuss the results and provide the policy implications. Conclusions are drawn in Section 5 .

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. study design.

A cross-sectional study was performed by using the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) [ 38 ], a nationwide, comprehensive, longitudinal survey in mainland China. Five follow-up sampling waves were conducted in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. However, only the 2014 CFPS has complete information on natural disasters and mental health. Thus, only the 2014 baseline survey is used for the analysis in this study. From July 2014 to May 2015, the CFPS project team collected data at individual, family, and community levels through face-to-face interviews and telephone surveys. CFPS sampling adopts implicit stratified, multi-stage, multi-level, and proportional probability sampling. The administrative division and socio-economic level are the main hierarchical variables. The samples of each sub-sample box of CFPS are extracted through three stages. The first stage sample is the administrative district/county. The second stage sample is administrative village/neighborhood committee, and the third stage (terminal) sample is household. Twenty-five provinces or their administrative equivalents were surveyed: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Fujian, Sichuan, Shandong, Guizhou, Gansu, Hebei, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Jiangsu. The data included individual, family, and community levels; that is, individual psychological and physiological status, education outcomes, natural disaster, demographic characteristics, and family economic characteristics.

In 2014, the number of middle-aged and older adults (“middle-aged and older adults” refers to individuals older than 44 years old) in the sample was 18,607. Exclusion of outliers, urban, and missing data yields 8721 observations. An econometric analysis using ordinary least squares (OLS) was conducted to investigate the effect of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Institute of Social Science Survey of Peking University, and ethical clearance or equivalent approval to conduct the study was granted in each country.

Our paper not only investigated the impact of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health, but also considered the heterogeneous effects and mechanisms of natural disasters on mental health. Hence, five hypotheses were proposed for our study.

Natural disasters may influence individuals’ life through different aspects. For example, natural disasters may damage individuals’ houses and crops, resulting in huge financial stress for disaster survivors. Furthermore, anxiety, impaired interpersonal relationships, food insecurity, and numerous other potential triggers for stress response may all have been intensified due to natural disasters [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Based on the above analysis, we propose Hypothesis 1.

Natural disasters have a significant negative effect on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health.

Belo et al. [ 44 ] found that well-educated people tend to have a higher income, a healthy diet, and an optimistic attitude towards life. Natural disasters might destroy immovables, cause massive loss of human life, and destruction of resources. Compared with less-educated individuals, well-educated people own more social and economic resources. Those well-educated individuals could better cope with the negative impact of natural disasters. The effect of natural disasters on mental health might not be homogeneous for people at different education levels. Hence, Hypothesis 2 arises.

The impact of natural disasters for well-educated individuals is less strong than it is for their less-educated counterparts.

Most individuals have sustained heavy financial losses due to natural disasters. People involved in agricultural production suffer more losses from natural disasters [ 45 ]. Furthermore, property loss induces anxiety or other mental health problems in these people. Second, compared with the individuals who are not involved in agricultural production, natural disasters can be more devastating for those who are. Since the damage affects not only financial property, but also people’s agricultural livelihoods [ 3 ], the double loss might result in mental health problems. The effect of natural disasters on mental health might also vary depending on the family’s agricultural production status. Hence, we propose Hypothesis 3.

Individuals show a stronger response to natural disasters if they have a family member involved in agricultural production, compared to those who do not.

Individuals with a higher level of happiness have more positive emotions and attitude to life than the ones with a lower level. Previous studies have recognized the important role of happiness in an individual’s mental health [ 46 ]. Furthermore, the existing literature indicates that natural disasters have a significant negative impact on individuals’ happiness [ 47 , 48 ]. Hence, we propose Hypothesis 4.

Natural disasters have an impact on mental health through their effects on happiness.

Natural disasters are linked with reduced satisfaction. Effects of natural disasters on life satisfaction fall into two broad categories: psychic costs and financial losses. Luechinger and Raschky [ 49 ] found that flood disasters have a negative effect on individuals’ life satisfaction. Individuals’ life satisfaction scores embody specific information on a subjective assessment of their daily life. Respondents with a higher score of life satisfaction are less likely to experience a psychological problem. Hence, Hypothesis 5 is proposed.

Natural disasters can harm mental health through their effects on life satisfaction.

2.2. Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis was conducted using econometric software STATA version 15.1 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). We report the mean, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum of variables in Table 1 . Given mental health is a continuous variable, OLS was constructed to investigate the causal relationship between natural disasters and middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. (We used the STATA package “regress” for the OLS regression). In our robustness check, we estimate the effect of natural disasters on mental health using propensity score matching (PSM). (We used the STATA package “psmatch2” to calculate the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) of the various propensity score matching methods). To investigate the mechanisms, we estimate the impact of natural disasters on individuals’ happiness and life satisfaction using OLS and the ordered probit model. (We used the STATA package “oprobit” for the ordered probit model). All reported p -values were two-tail. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.1 .

Descriptive statistics of the key variables.

2.3. Variables and Descriptive Statistics

Outcome variable: middle-aged and older adults’ mental health

The main outcome variable in this paper is the mental health of middle-aged and older adults in rural China. Following existing studies [ 43 , 50 ], the mental health index is derived from the 6-item short form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression (CES-D) in the CFPS. (CES-D questions: 1. How often did you feel depressed that nothing could cheer you up during the past 30 days? 2. How often did you feel nervous during the past days? 3. How often did you feel restless or fidgety during the past 30 days? 4. How often did you feel hopeless during the past 30 days? 5. How often did you feel that everything was an effort during the past 30 days? 6. How often did you feel that life was meaningless during the past 30 days? Individuals were asked to indicate the frequency of their feelings on a five-scale metric—“Almost daily”, “Often”, “Half of the time”, “Sometimes”, and “Never”. These responses are coded from 1 to 5, respectively). The response for each question is coded from 1 to 5. There are six questions to assess mental state in the survey, and each one is constructed and standardized to have a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. The final score is calculated by aggregating the multiple measures into indices. The higher the index value, the better the individual’s mental health.

Independent variable: natural disaster

We consider two measures of natural disaster as the independent variable. The first one is captured by a dummy variable (Disaster_d). It equals 1 if the middle-aged or older adult has experienced at least one type of natural disaster, and otherwise 0. (The types of natural disasters include typhoons, floods, storm surges, forest fires, frost, hail, landslides, debris flow, earthquakes, infectious diseases, agricultural and forestry pests, etc.). The second is constructed as a continuous variable (Disaster_n), which measures the number of types of natural disaster that the middle-aged or older adult has experienced.

Control variables and descriptive statistics

We include the following control variables: age, a dummy variable for sex, education level, marital status, cognitive abilities, income, medical insurance, and a dummy variable for agricultural production. In addition, we control for family size, house value, and family expenditure. Descriptive statistics of the variables used in the paper are reported in Table 1 , where it can be seen that the sampled middle-aged and older adults were 58.41 years old on average, and 50.4 percent of them were male. The average mental health score is −0.339. About 75 percent of middle-aged and older adults have experienced at least one type of natural disaster. The value of Disaster_n varies from 0 to 5. That is to say, the most types of disasters that have been experienced by a person is 5, and the least is 0 in our sample.

2.4. Empirical Methodologies

The effect of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health is estimated using ordinary least squares, as follows:

where m e n t a l i represents the dependent variable (middle-aged and older adults’ mental health), d i s a s t e r _ d represents the natural disaster dummy variable (dummy variable equal to 1 if the middle-aged or older adult experienced at least one type of natural disaster, and otherwise 0), d i s a s t e r _ n represents the number of times a natural disaster was experienced, and c o n t r o l i is a vector of observable determinants of middle-aged and older adults’ mental health.

3. Empirical Results

3.1. the basic correlation.

The basic relationship between natural disasters and mental health is presented in Figure 1 . The graph indicates that a negative correlation exists between natural disasters and middle-aged and older adults’ mental health.

Graph of natural disasters and mental health.

3.2. Baseline Results

When investigating the causal relationship between natural disasters and mental health, an individual’s math and language abilities are generally highly correlated. High correlation among variables gives rise to concerns about multicollinearity, which may lead to considerable bias in the estimation. We use the variable inflation factor (VIF) to check for multicollinearity in our model. Table 2 reports the VIF of each variable. In each case, the VIF is less than the rule-of-thumb value of 10, indicating that multicollinearity is not a major issue.

The variance inflation factor of each variable.

Note: VIF represents variable inflation factor.

Table 3 reports the baseline results on the effects of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. Columns (1) and (3) include only the dummy of natural disasters and the intensity of natural disasters, respectively. A set of control variables affecting middle-aged and older adults’ mental health is included in columns (2) and (4). The effects in columns (1) and (3) suggest a salient negative effect of natural disasters on mental health for middle-aged and older people. When controlling for a set of covariates in columns (2) and (4), results from OLS models indicate that natural disasters are a significant predictor of middle-aged and older adults’ mental health, showing a negative correlation. Those results verify Hypothesis 1. In addition, sex shows a positive sign in columns (1) and (3). This indicates that males have better mental health than females. The results for education report positive signs, indicating that education has a positive impact on mental health. The coefficients of marital status are positive and statistically significant. The results indicate that the mental health status of married adults is higher than in their unmarried counterparts. Math abilities, income, insurance, and house value show a salient positive impact on mental health.

OLS results of the effects of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health.

Note: *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.10. Standard errors clustered at the individual level are reported in parentheses. OLS represents ordinary least squares.

3.3. Endogeneity

Bearing selection bias in mind, we estimate the causal effect of natural disasters on mental health using the propensity score matching (PSM) technique. In this case, we use a dummy variable equal to 1 if the middle-aged or older adult experienced at least one type of the natural disaster (treatment group), or otherwise 0 (control group).

An important step when applying PSM is to check the covariate balance of the treatment and control group, which is achieved if both groups have similar observable covariates. This paper uses two methods to check the covariate balance of the two groups. The first one is essentially based on comparing the mean (after matching) of observable covariates in the two groups. The second one is based on the standardized bias. Table 4 reports the results of the mean of the observable covariates in the two groups. The results in column (5) indicate that the p -values (after matching) are larger than 0.1 in most of the cases. Additionally, we report the standardized bias in Figure 2 . The standardized bias reduction is below 5%, providing evidence that the covariates are balanced in the two groups.

Standardized bias before and after matching.

The mean of covariates in treatment and control groups.

According to Heckman et al. [ 51 ], a crucial step when applying PSM is to examine the overlap and region of common support between treatment and control groups. Figure 3 and Figure 4 report the estimation of the density distribution in the two groups, indicating that most samples fall into the region of common support.

Density distribution of the propensity score (before matching).

Density distribution of the propensity score (after matching).

Following Rosenbaum and Rubin [ 52 ], this paper presents different types of matching estimators, including kernel matching, local linear matching, radius matching, and nearest-neighbor matching (k = 1, k = 4). Table 5 presents the results of the different matching strategies. The results indicate that the average treatment effect on the treatment of the various matching methods is all negative and significant, indicating a negative correlation between natural disaster and mental health in our sample.

PSM analysis of the effects of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health.

Note: *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05.

3.4. Robustness Check

Two lines of the robustness check are conducted to confirm the reliability of the results in the previous section. In the first, we use an alternative measure of mental health. In the second, we employ another methodology to estimate the effect of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health.

One concern may be that our findings might be driven by the measurement of mental health. To analyze this, we construct an alternative index to measure mental health in our sample. We adopt a factor analysis approach to assess the individual’s mental health. The results show that the KMO-statistics are all larger than 0.8, Cronbach’s alpha is 0.86, and the p -values of the Bartlett test of sphericity are all less than 0.01, confirming that exploratory factor analysis fits well as a method to measure mental health. We also use this index to regress our model using OLS, and the results are reported in Table 6 . The results indicate that natural disasters have a negative effect on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health, consistent with the OLS results of Table 3 .

Robustness test results.

Note: *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05. OLS represents ordinary least squares.

In the second robustness check, we apply the probit methodology to estimate the effect of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. To do this, we replace individuals’ mental health by using a dummy. This dummy takes 1 if the value of mental health is more than −0.339, and otherwise 0. Columns (3)–(4) of Table 6 show the estimated results, which indicate that natural disasters have a negative effect on mental health. We also report the margin effects in columns (5)–(6) of Table 6 . The marginal effects are all negative and statistically significant. All in all, the results in Table 6 are consistent with the results in Table 3 .

3.5. Heterogeneity

To better understand the relationship between natural disasters and mental health, we examine the heterogeneity of effects by splitting the sample into different education levels and agricultural production status.

In order to check Hypothesis 2, Table 7 presents the results of the heterogeneous effect of natural disasters on mental health for different education levels. The results suggest that less-educated adults show a stronger response to natural disasters than well-educated ones. These results verify Hypothesis 2.

Heterogeneous effects of natural disaster by education level.

Note: *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.10.

To check Hypothesis 3, we include a dummy variable to measure the agricultural production status in a family. The dummy equals 1 if the individual belongs to a family involved in agricultural production, and otherwise 0. Table 8 reports the effect of natural disasters considering the family’s agricultural production status. The results indicate that middle-aged and older adults have a stronger response to natural disasters if they have a family member involved in agricultural production, compared to those that do not. The results in Table 8 verify Hypothesis 3.

Heterogeneous effects of natural disaster by agricultural production status.

3.6. Mechanisms

To explore the mechanisms through which natural disasters affect middle-aged and older adults’ mental health, two channels are studied in this section: happiness and life satisfaction.

To test Hypothesis 4, we estimate the impact of natural disasters on happiness for middle-aged and older adults by means of OLS. (The happiness index ranges from 1–10, where 0 is the least happy and 10 is the most happy). Given that happiness is reported on an ordinal scale, we also employ the ordered probit model to investigate the impact of natural disasters on mental health. Table 9 reports the results for the effect of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ happiness, revealing negative and statistically significant coefficients. This indicates that natural disasters have an impact on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health through their effects on happiness. The results in Table 9 verify Hypothesis 4.

Natural disasters and happiness.

Note: *** p < 0.01. OLS represents ordinary least squares.

In order to test Hypothesis 5, we investigate whether natural disasters can affect life satisfaction. This indicator is also available in the CFPS survey, with a higher value meaning higher life satisfaction. (The life satisfaction index ranges from 1–5). The corresponding estimates are presented in Table 10 . Columns (1)–(2) of Table 10 report the results of the OLS. Life satisfaction is reported on an ordinal scale, which allows us to estimate the effects of natural disasters on mental health with the ordered probit model. The results show that the coefficients of the natural disasters are negative and statistically significant, indicating that natural disasters can harm mental health through their effects on life satisfaction. These results verify Hypothesis 5.

Natural disasters and life satisfaction.

4. Discussion

There are a number of studies that are related to what we have examined in this paper, but they are in the spirit of focusing on a specific disaster. For instance, Kovats and Hajat [ 40 ] conducted a meta-analysis of previous studies and found that extreme hot weather threatens public health and can also be a cause of mortality. Furthermore, studies by Rataj et al. [ 41 ] and Weilnhammer et al. [ 53 ] show that extreme weather has a negative impact not only on physical health, but also on mental health. However, the abovementioned research is based on descriptive studies and lacks empirical support. Our research employs ordinary least squares and propensity score matching to investigate the causal impact of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health and provides empirical evidence on the effects of natural disasters on mental health. The baseline results are in line with previous studies [ 54 , 55 ]. Moreover, most of the research is derived from studies of flood-exposed regions. Unlike the research of Fernandez et al. [ 56 ], our research is derived from large-scale micro population survey data (CFPS). Based on Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey data in England, Graham et al. [ 42 ] investigated the impact of storms and floods on individuals’ mental health, but their paper makes no attempt to provide the mechanism analysis. Our research not only investigates the impact of natural disasters on individuals’ mental health, but also strives to ascertain the mechanism between natural disasters and mental health. Furthermore, previous studies found that experiencing an earthquake may influence sleep quality and interpersonal relationships, or even lead to suicide [ 7 , 8 ].

Despite mounting evidence indicating that heat, floods, and hurricanes might cause a negative impact on individuals, little has been said to discuss the impact of all kinds of natural disasters as an external shock on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. Furthermore, our research also indicates that the impact of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health is heterogeneous depending on individuals’ education level and their agricultural production status. Our study found that well-educated individuals have a weaker response to natural disasters than their less-educated counterparts. Middle-aged and older adults show a stronger response to natural disasters if they have a family member involved in agricultural production, compared to those that do not. Last but not least, our findings provide new evidence on the causal mechanism between natural disasters and middle-aged and older adults’ mental health.

However, this paper is limited in some facets. First, we estimate the short-run effects of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. Regretfully, due to data constraints, we fail to consider the long-term effects of natural disasters. Second, as well as the data limitations, we measure mental health in a very general way. For instance, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly related to disaster survivors [ 29 , 55 ]. Given the lack of relevant data to PTSD, we do not investigate the impact of natural disasters on PTSD. Third, although we try our best to include the factors that might affect individuals’ mental health, the model could not include some further external factors that affect individuals’ mental health, which are difficult to measure. An interesting future research avenue could be projected on the long-term and dynamic effects of natural disasters on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. Furthermore, research could also investigate the causal effect between natural disasters and a specific mental problem, such as PTSD.

Several policy implications can be derived from this analysis. First, our study suggests that natural disasters have a notable adverse impact on middle-aged and older adults’ mental health. Thus, the government and society as a whole might need to provide aid to the middle-aged and older adults who have suffered from natural disasters. This help should be targeted not only at infrastructure reconstruction and financial subsidies but also at effective mental health care. Particular attention should be paid to those people who have a low level of education and are involved in agricultural production. Finally, the government might also focus more on helping the middle-aged and older adults of disaster-stricken regions by improving their happiness and life satisfaction.

5. Conclusions

Given the importance of mental health in daily life, there has been a growing amount of research on this topic. In this paper, we investigate the causal relationship between natural disasters and mental health in the case of middle-aged and older adults in rural China by using 8721 observations from 2014 CFPS survey data. One of the most important findings to emerge from this paper is that natural disasters have a negative impact on mental health.

Further analysis on heterogeneous effects is conducted by splitting the sample according to educational level and family agricultural production status. On the one hand, the results show that natural disasters have a slightly stronger impact on less-educated people than their better-educated counterparts. On the other hand, compared with those whose family members are not involved in agricultural production, those who are involved in agriculture show a stronger response to natural disasters. Our study also investigates the mechanisms through which natural disasters can have an impact on mental health, indicating that they influence mental health through their effect on the individual’s level of happiness and life satisfaction.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the anonymous referees for their constructive and valuable comments and suggestions that helped us to greatly improve the quality of this paper. We would like to thank Camelia Turcu, Ruidong Sun, and Wenxuan Tan for their helpful remarks.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, R.Z. and Y.Z.; methodology, R.Z.; software, R.Z.; validation, R.Z., Y.Z. and Z.D.; formal analysis, R.Z.; investigation, Y.Z. and Z.D.; resources, R.Z.; data curation, R.Z. and Y.Z.; writing—original draft preparation, R.Z. and Y.Z.; writing—review and editing, Y.Z.; visualization, R.Z.; supervision, R.Z. and Y.Z.; project administration, R.Z., Y.Z. and Z.D.; funding acquisition, Z.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research was funded by the National Social Science Foundation Youth Project, grant number 20CFX054.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Patient consent was waived due to publicly open data from the China Family Panel Survey.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Scoping Review of PTSD Treatments for Natural Disaster Survivors

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This scoping review explores the current research on PTSD interventions for Natural Disaster survivors. It includes fourteen randomized control trials (RCTs). The included interventions were, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, herbal supplements, CBT, yoga, narrative exposure therapy, acupuncture stimulation, web-based interventions, and a multimodal art and meditation program. CBT is considered the standard of care for general PTSD treatment and was also found to be effective for the treatment of natural disaster-related PTSD symptoms. However, higher-level clinical evidence is needed. There are inconsistencies with the use of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements, while there is insufficient clinical evidence to effectively determine the efficacy of yoga, acupuncture, art, and narrative exposure therapies. Factors like the availability of resources, cultural sensitivity, and values and preferences impact the effectiveness of interventions used to treat PTSD in natural disaster survivors. Clinical studies in this field need to be further expanded regardless of the study type

This scoping review explores the current research on PTSD interventions for Natural Disaster survivors. It includes fourteen randomized control trials (RCTs). The included interventions were, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, herbal supplements, CBT, yoga, narrative exposure therapy, acupuncture stimulation, web-based interventions, and a multimodal art and meditation program. CBT is considered the standard of care for general PTSD treatment and was also found to be effective for the treatment of natural disaster-related PTSD symptoms. However, higher-level clinical evidence is needed. There are inconsistencies with the use of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements, while there is insufficient clinical evidence to effectively determine the efficacy of yoga, acupuncture, art, and narrative exposure therapies. Factors like the availability of resources, cultural sensitivity, and values and preferences impact the effectiveness of interventions used to treat PTSD in natural disaster survivors. Clinical studies in this field need to be further expanded regardless of the study type.

Introduction

Natural disasters have a profound impact on today’s society. They are extreme events generally caused by abrupt climate change and other environmental factors such as earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, tsunamis, cyclones, and wildfires. 1 Over the past decade, approximately 45,000 people globally died from natural disasters each year. 2 As such, it is important to study and understand the impacts of natural disasters on the world, and thus how its effects can be overcome. Of particular importance is the mental afflictions and trauma brought upon by natural disasters. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods can impose great stress and emotional distress on an individual, which can lead to the development of PTSD. 3 PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a syndrome that can result from natural disasters, resulting in symptoms of re-experiencing the traumatic event, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, dissociation (detachment from oneself or reality), and intense negative emotions (sadness, guilt) and physiological reaction on being exposed to the traumatic reminder. 4 Overall, studies report a prevalence of 5% to 60% prevalence of PTSD in populations in the first 1-2 years after a natural disaster. 5 , 6 The development of PTSD impairs natural disaster survivors’ ability to continue to engage in normal life. Because the areas where these natural disasters occur are devastated and in a state of economic distress, the loss of human capital caused by trauma from natural disasters is particularly important to address.

While systematic reviews examining the effects of interventions for PTSD in natural disasters related to specific disasters such as named tsunamis or earthquakes in particular regions, exist to date, there is currently no comprehensive scoping review available that encompasses all types of natural disasters. Considering this, further research is required to collate and vet existing literature.

Evidence shows that a scoping review is more appropriate than a systematic review when the purpose of the review is to identify knowledge gaps, scope a body of literature, clarify concepts, or investigate research conduct. 7 This scoping review aimed to identify the current research outcomes that have been conducted regarding the treatment of PTSD of natural disaster survivors, the gaps presented in this field of research, and recommendations for further literature development in this field.

Methodology

The methodology employed in this scoping review aimed to adhere to the PRISMA-IPD checklist to the best extent possible. However, certain limitations should be noted, such as the non-registration of the study protocol and the absence of extensive statistical analysis. It is important to recognize that this review is designed as a scoping review rather than a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Step 1: Identifying the Research Question

During stage 1 of the scoping review, the researchers searched articles to identify research questions. After several rounds of review, the following questions were posed: [1] What is the reported effectiveness of each individual intervention studied for PTSD and Natural Disasters? [2] Which populations were targeted in RCT of natural disaster survivors with PTSD? [3] What adverse events were reported in the treatment of PTSD for Natural Disaster survivors? [4] To what extent do the interventions for PTSD in natural disasters demonstrate ease of implementation? [5] Which areas of research exhibit potential for further investigation for the treatment of PTSD in natural disaster survivors?

Step 2: Identifying Relevant Studies

Information Source : To identify the relevant studies for this scoping review, a comprehensive literature search was conducted on 3 databases including Medline and APA PsychInfo via EBSCO, and PTSDpubs on ProQuest utilizing PICOS methodology. We used Boolean search which allowed us to combine keywords.

The search terms included keywords of PTSD (ptsd or post traumatic stress disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder), natural disasters (tsunamis or floods or drought or wildfire or earthquake or tornado or hurricane or snowstorm or environmental disasters or humanitarian crisis), and treatment (intervention or therapy or management).

Eligibility Criteria : (1) Study Design: The study designs of the publications included in this scoping review were restricted solely to randomized control trials written in English, irrespective of publication date. (2) Participant Type: This review included natural disaster event survivors of all ages with PTSD and related symptoms. Studies related to war, terrorism, infectious diseases, and other man-made disasters were excluded. Studies were strictly limited to primary victims and did not include the caretakers of the victims or close family. (3) Intervention Type: All types of interventions were included in this scoping study, from pharmaceuticals to yoga to CBT. However, all studies regarding preventative measures for PTSD symptom development after a natural disaster were excluded. (4) Control Group Intervention: Any type of intervention was allowed for the control group. (5) Outcome: The outcome measures included all changes in the level of PTSD symptoms measured or if no effect was observed. Studies that mentioned anxiety or depression post-natural disaster but did not refer to ‘PTSD’ were eliminated.

Step 3: Selecting Studies to Be Included in the Review

In the third stage of the scoping review, publications were manually screened for duplicates and were assessed using the inclusion and exclusion criteria by two independent reviewers. In instances where discrepancies were identified, the reviewers took the initiative to revisit the search process, refine their strategies and conduct additional searches. This was done to ensure comprehensive coverage of the literature and facilitate collaboration to reach a consensus. The full texts of the articles were then screened for eligibility. The detailed process is shown below table.

Step 4: Charting the Data

A data extraction sheet was developed by the research team consisting of several items, including (1) general information (e.g. author’s name, year of publication, country); (2) number of participants; (3) type of disaster (e.g. hurricane, earthquake, tsunami); (4) intervention (e.g. CBT, acupuncture, yoga); (5) control; (6) median age; (7) duration of study; (8) outcome variables including effects and findings.

Step 5: Collating, Summarizing, and Reporting the Results

The data extracted from the included studies were synthesized and summarized using the scoping review analytical framework. The effectiveness of the intervention was then judged based on factors including the outcome, sample size, study duration, and more. Any disagreements between the researchers regarding the evaluation of an intervention were discussed until a conclusion was reached.

Statistical Method

Microsoft Excel 2019 software was used to process data. Quantitative data was summarized using statistical mean. The outcome was displayed in a combo bar-chart-scatter plot format and bar charts. In the combo bar-chart-scatter plot chart, the bar-charts represent intervention outcomes of the intervention group before and after administration of intervention. The scatter plots represent the control/placebo outcomes before and after observation or administration of placebo.

Literature Search and study selection

In the initial search, 177 records were obtained, excluding duplicate documents. In the first screening process, 31 potentially relevant records were screened, among which 30 underwent full-text reviews, except for one record whose full text was unavailable. In the second screening process, 1 duplicate, 1 non-English paper, 6 non-randomized trials, 7 articles whose participants were not all survivors of the natural disaster, and 1 study without any intervention were excluded. Ultimately, a total of 14 randomized clinical trials were included in this scoping review.

General characteristics of included studies

Among the included studies, there were a total of 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from 2009 to 2023.

Population: The scope of the randomized control trials included wildfires, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods, and earthquakes. Earthquakes were the most prominent event, possessing 9 RCTs, 2 related to the 2010/2011 Canterbury and Christchurch Earthquakes in New Zealand, 8 , 9 4 related to the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in China, 10–13 2 related to the Great East Japan Earthquake, 14 , 15 and 1 related to the 1999 Gölcük Earthquake in Turkey. 16 Other than earthquakes, 2 of the RCTs were related to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Thailand and Sri Lanka, 17 , 18 and 1 RCT each for the 2008 Bihar Flood in India, 19 the Spring 2011 Tornadoes in the United States, 20 and the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfires in Canada. 21 The geographical frequency of disasters survey in this scoping review was more concentrated around South and East Asia compared to the rest of the world.

Intervention: 4 RCTs used CBT, 10 , 16 , 18 , 21 including one with a group-administered CBT intervention, 18 one with a therapist-assisted online intervention, 21 and another single-session modified behavioral treatment. 16 5 other RCTs used pharmacotherapies, nutritional supplements or herbs, 15 including the administration of hydrocortisone, 8 micronutrients (Berocca Performance, CNE4, and CNE8), 9 traditional Japanese herbal medicine saikokeishikankyoto (SKK), 15 Chinese herbal formula Xiao-Tan-Jie-Yu-Fang (XTJYF) [10], and fish oil as supplementation to psychoeducation. 14 Also included was a yoga intervention, 19 narrative exposure therapy, 12 acupuncture with a CBT control group, 13 a web-based intervention named BBN (Bounce Back Now) consisting of behavioral treatment, coping strategies, and anxiety management, 20 and a school-based intervention termed ERASE Stress Sri-Lanka targeted towards children using psychoeducational material, cognitive-behavioral skills, meditative practices, and bio-energetic exercises as well as processing traumatic experiences by utilizing art therapy and narrative techniques. 17

Control: Most interventions in the control group were placebos for pharmacotherapies and waitlisting for therapies or other interventions. One study testing fish oil as a supplement to psychoeducation used psychoeducation as a control group. 14 Another trial testing the effectiveness of acupoint stimulation and CBT used CBT as a control group. 13

Outcome: Most studies utilized DSM IV criteria to determine eligibility for PTSD diagnosis.

This scoping review included fourteen randomized control trials (RCTs). The included interventions were pharmacotherapies (n=5), CBT and its variations (n=4), yoga (n=1), narrative exposure therapy (n=1), acupuncture stimulation (n=1), Bounce Back Now (a web-based intervention; n=1), and ERASE Stress Sri Lanka (a school-based therapy targeted towards adolescent; n=1). Generally, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements exhibited inconsistencies in results. CBT interventions were standard of care and effective. High-level clinical evidence (RCTs) is lacking to effectively determine the efficacy of interventions related to yoga, acupuncture, narrative exposure therapy, and more. Clinical studies in this field need to be further expanded regardless of the study type.

Figure 2 and table 3 show the effectiveness of CBT in the 4 studies included in this review. It is to be noted that the scales of all four studies are not uniform, as the graphs shows change in the pre and post intervention of the scales used in the respective studies. In the study conducted in China and Thailand, 10 , 18 the Children’s Revised Impact of Events Scale (CRIES-13) psychological instrument was used to diagnose the presence PTSD in study participants. The study conducted in Canada regarding wildfires 21 used the PCL-5 psychological instruments to diagnose the Prescence PTSD while the study conducted in Turkey 16 used CAPS (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale) to assess the presence of PTSD in study participants. All these instruments provide standardized ways to diagnose PTSD in patients exposed to natural disasters.

At baseline, the mean scores for the CBT intervention group were high across all four studies, indicating the PTSD symptoms experienced by participants before receiving the intervention. However, at the post-treatment stage, the mean scores for the CBT intervention group decreased, illustrating the effectiveness of CBT in reducing PTSD symptoms. This reduction in mean scores suggests that the CBT interventions had a positive impact on the psychological well-being of natural disaster survivors. Also, these scores reflect the outcomes of CBT interventions compared to control conditions in each study. Generally, lower scores indicate reduced symptom severity or improved outcomes.

Figure 3 and table 4 display the effectiveness of the interventions of five studies including 1 pharmaceutical, 8 2 herbal supplements, 11 , 15 and 2 nutraceuticals. 9 , 14 Two studies in Japan testing fish oil and SKK herbal supplement as interventions 14 , 15 and a study conducted in New Zealand testing micronutrients 9 utilized the Impact of Event Scale (IES-R). The herbal supplement XTJYF in the China study 11 used the Symptom Check-List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) score while atypical use of pharmaceutical hydrocortisone in the New Zealand 8 study used the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS).

At this time there are not many studies examining each of the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and herbal supplements for PTSD treatment in the context of natural disasters to make definitive conclusions. Pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements may have a role in addressing PTSD symptoms, but further research is needed. This review identifies a gap in this aspect.

Figure 4 shows the variability of study duration among the 14 studies examined in this scoping review. The duration of the trials varied: CBT studies ranged from 4-24 weeks and pharmaceutical, herbal supplement and nutraceutical studies ranged from 1-48 weeks. Other interventions also collectively ranged from 1-48 weeks.

The current scoping review aimed to identify the current status of research regarding interventions for PTSD of natural disaster survivors. The literature surveyed reveals insight into both the current data collection and research gaps to investigate.

Question 1: What is the reported effectiveness of each individual intervention studied for PTSD and Natural Disasters?

4 studies in this scoping review used CBT or a modified form of it. 10 , 16 , 18 , 21 All 4 studies displayed a clinically significant decrease in PTSD symptoms after follow-up compared to the control group. The CBT studies focused on adolescents and youth displayed significant decreases in CRIES (Children Revised Impact of Events Scale) scores after the disaster. 10 , 18 Specifically, a group CBT intervention in a post-disaster setting with limited resources like many third-world countries proved to be effective. 18 Furthermore, one study showed that CBT proved to be a better intervention than general support, affirming its superiority. 10 Another study after the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfires showed that an online-based CBT intervention led to clinically significant decreases in PTSD symptoms and related markers, affirming CBT’s viability as a virtual intervention. 21 A study utilizing a modified form of CBT, SSBT (single-session modified behavioral treatment), found a 49% improvement rate, rising to 85% after 24 weeks. 16 This shows that CBT can be delivered at shorter lengths being more cost-effective, and further research is needed to verify SSBT’s effectiveness.

Pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements (n=5)

5 studies in the scoping review used pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements as interventions. 8 , 9 , 11 , 14 , 15 The RCT administering hydrocortisone in combination with script-driven imagery found non-significant trends of increasing subjective distress (the opposite effect), proving ineffective. 8 The RCT administering fish oil supplementation to psychoeducation also found non-significant trends for the superiority of fish oil supplementation plus psychoeducation over psychoeducation alone for attenuating PTSD symptoms. 14 Three RCTs displayed results in favor of specific micronutrients and herbal formulations for PTSD. 9 , 11 , 15 Traditional Japanese herbal medicine SKK showed significantly improved IES-R scores (Impact of Event Scale or level of subjective distress) among patients after administration, however, the study spanned only 2 weeks in length, so the herbal medicine’s long-term efficacy is unknown. The modified traditional Chinese medicine XTJYF displayed positive results in the measured SCL-90-R score (The Symptom Checklist-90) in comparison to a placebo over a study duration of 8 weeks and a sample size of 245. 11 The SCL-90-R scale used was less specific than other scales in evaluating PTSD symptoms. The RCT evaluating the effectiveness of micronutrients showed better outcomes when taken during the acute phase after an earthquake. 9 Pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements provide mixed results of effectiveness. Current evidence regarding pharmaceuticals (hydrocortisone), herbal medicines, supplements like fish oil, and micronutrients requires further investigation for conclusions to be drawn.

1 study in this scoping review used yoga as an intervention. 19 The RCT found that a week of yoga practice for one hour a day, consisting of loosening exercises (sithilikarana vyayama) for ten minutes, physical postures (asanas) for twenty minutes, and breathing techniques (pranayamas) for twenty-five minutes, resulted in a significant decrease in sadness compared to an increase in anxiety in the control group. There was a non-significant decrease in fear, anxiety, and disturbed sleep in the intervention group. 19 This study, conducted over a time span of one week and with a participant number of 22 individuals, shows that yoga could be used as a cost-effective intervention for natural disaster victims, but requires further research.

Narrative Exposure Therapy (n=1)

1 study in this scoping review used narrative exposure therapy (NET) and a revised version shortened to one week in intervals of 1-2 days (NET-R). 12 Results showed that both interventions showed significant reductions in PTSD and related symptoms compared to the waitlist control group. More research is required both on narrative exposure therapy’s effectiveness after a disaster and how shortened versions of therapies such as NET-R and SSBT compared to their originals with their cost-effectiveness.

Acupuncture (n=1)

1 study in this scoping review used acupoint stimulation with a CBT control group as an intervention. 13 The study showed a significant reduction in subjective distress (IES-R score) compared to the solely CBT control group. The study did not account for the placebo effect and thus further research into acupuncture therapy as a sole means of intervention is needed.

Bounce Back Now (n=1)

1 study in this scoping review utilized a web-based intervention addressing PTSD symptoms targeted toward adolescents. 20 The intervention showed that adolescents in the intervention group had fewer PTSD symptoms after 12 months compared to the control web-based assessment group. Along with the therapist-assisted online version of CBT, more research is required to correctly conclude the effectiveness of web-based interventions like BBN.

ERASE Stress Sri-Lanka (n=1)

1 study in this scoping review used a synthesized program covering a wide range of therapies tailored toward children in schools. 17 Results showed a significant reduction in all outcome variables and improvements in PTSD severity, functional problems, somatic complaints, depression, and hope scores in the intervention group. This study shows insight into how interventions tailored toward kids can be done in a school with art and narrative therapies. More research is required to accurately determine the consistent feasibility of such interventions.

Question 2: Which populations were targeted in interventions for natural disaster survivors with PTSD?

The populations targeted in interventions for natural disaster survivors were mainly adults, with population mean ages between 30 and 55 years of age. 8 , 9 , 11–16 , 19 , 21 A few trials targeted children and adolescents for their studies, with mean ages ranging from 12.25 - 14.5. 10 , 17 , 18 , 20 The studies concerning adolescents and children were especially accommodating for children. For example, the study implementing the program ERASE Stress Sri Lanka utilized art and drawing as means of therapy tailored towards children that are accomplishable in schools. 17

In general, the ethnicity and racial group of the majority of the participants of this study were Asian due to the high frequency of disasters in the region. This included four occurrences in China, 10–13 two in Japan, 14 , 15 and one each in Thailand, 18 India, 19 and Sri Lanka. 17 In contrast, two studies were conducted in New Zealand, 9 and one each for Turkey, 16 The United States, 20 and Canada. 21 The high frequency of Asian studies could account for the occurrence of traditional herbal medicines used as interventions 11 , 14 , 15 as well as the testing of acupuncture therapy. 13 As research shows that Asians, such as the Chinese, cope differently than other ethnic groups because of cultural differences, 22 this imbalance in the geographic concentration of high-level clinical evidence such as RCTs regarding the treatment of PTSD for natural disaster survivors posits a need for further studies to be conducted in more diverse locations around the world such as Europe, Africa, or South America.

Question 3: What adverse events were reported in the treatment of PTSD for natural disaster survivors?

In the literature reviewed, there were a few adverse events reported which brings up the need for further investigation for safety protocols to be taken. The study administering Chinese herbal medicine XTJYF found that both the control and intervention groups reported nausea, diarrhea, and malaise, which were eventually found to be minor and unrelated to the herbal medicine’s intolerance. 11 It is important to note that pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements in general can have adverse effects. Acupoint stimulation was also a point of concern in regard to safety practices. The study testing acupoint stimulation compounded with CBT showed that there were no adverse events reported except for a slight numbness sensation. 13 This means that acupuncture therapy can be carried out safely with the correct procedures in place.

Questions 4 & 5: To what extent do the interventions for PTSD in natural disasters demonstrate ease of implementation? Which areas of research exhibit potential for further investigation for the treatment of PTSD in natural disaster survivors?

The various interventions discussed in this scoping review all pose challenges to their implementations. For example, traditional CBT has been proven to be extremely effective in numerous studies but is limited by factors such as cost and the shortage of trained therapists in rural settings 23 and major parts of the world. However, alternative forms of CBT in this review such as SSBT, 16 Group CBT, 18 and online CBT 21 combat this deficit though it is unclear if they are as effective as traditional CBT. The traditional herbal medicines in this review also face problems, as SKK and XTJYF are not widely accessible due to their regional availability. 11 , 15 Evidence for nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals also have deficits in the fact that there is not enough rigorous scientific research to show their benefits and the safety issues that they pose. 8 , 9 , 14 Further research investigating the impact of medications, anti-depressants, and other types of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and herbal supplements is needed.

Like CBT, NET also faces the same issues in terms of cost-effectiveness and availability of professionals but has been proven by previous studies as effective. 12 , 24 If further research on modified forms of NET is explored, it is possible that the most cost-effective versions can be produced. On the other hand, web-based interventions such as BBN and therapist-assisted online CBT are more accessible to groups of people in more developed countries and recently impacted third-world countries may not possess the infrastructure to use the internet on a large scale. 20 , 21 Furthermore, issues such as language adaptation, education level of the treatment group, and coordination are barriers to web-based interventions’ implementation. If these issues are combated on a large scale and more research is done to affirm that therapies conducted over the Internet do not lose effectiveness, web-based interventions can be promoted further. Acupuncture therapies also possess barriers to acquisition. This includes issues like the availability of resources, strictness of local regulations, access to trained professionals, and individual preferences. 25 More research regarding acupuncture’s effects is required. Mind-body therapies, such as yoga, have a large ease of implementation due to the popularity and large number of trained professionals and versatility in both online and in-person settings. 26 Yoga practices, including mindfulness meditation and breathwork, can enhance emotional regulation skills, potentially leading to improved mental well-being and resilience. 27 Although there is evidence pointing towards the benefits of yoga, high-level clinical evidence such as RCTs for PTSD survivors after a natural disaster are not many in number, and further research should be done comparing Yoga to current standard care treatments like CBT.

In this scoping review, 60% of the studies reviewed were testing on populations of earthquake survivors. The prevalence of PTSD is presumed to be higher among earthquake survivors due to the significant loss of life associated with earthquakes when compared to other natural disasters, however, reliable data supporting this claim is currently unavailable. 28 Floods are the most common type of disaster globally, responsible for almost 53,000 deaths in the last decade alone, yet only 27% of studies surveilled included flood survivors. 29 Furthermore, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that flooding is becoming increasingly common throughout the American shoreline 30 . Given these circumstances, there is a pressing need for more in-depth research on the mental health implications, including PTSD, among flood victims in the United States

Limitations of this review

This scoping review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to the best possible extent. However, it should be noted that certain aspects were not fully implemented in this scoping review. Firstly, the current absence of biomarkers for diagnosing PTSD in clinical practice, despite research exploring potential associations was a limitation in our study. Secondly, several studies in this review relied on self-reported adherence to the protocol for assessment which could interfere with the credibility of the results. The third limitation of this review is that the methodological quality of the studies reviewed was not checked using rigorous criteria such as Cochrane’s risk of bias tool. Additionally, obtaining protocol registration and conducting detailed statistical analysis such as exploration of variation in effects, risk of bias assessment, confidence intervals, and measures of statistical heterogeneity were not within the scope of this study. This means that the review of literature may have not accounted for specific faults in the study’s methodology, which could jeopardize the implications of this review.

Current literature in the form of high-level clinical evidence (RCTs) testing the effects of interventions for the PTSD of natural disaster survivors is limited. This scoping review shows that among evidence-based practices, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements exhibited inconsistencies in results. Of special note is the limited availability of studies pertaining to the use of pharmacotherapies, nutraceuticals, and herbal supplements in the treatment of PTSD for natural disaster survivors highlights a potential research gap that warrants further investigation. CBT interventions are considered standard of care for general PTSD treatment and were also found to be effective for the treatment of natural disaster-related PTSD symptoms in this review. However, more RCTs are needed. There is insufficient clinical evidence to effectively determine the efficacy of yoga, acupuncture, art, and narrative exposure therapies. Post-disaster relief efforts should not only support interventions according to the level of scientific evidence of their efficacy but also consider factors like the availability of resources including public education on how to best prevent PTSD, trained professionals to diagnose and treat PTSD, cultural sensitivity of the intervention used, values and preferences of relevant stakeholders. Clinical studies in this field need to be further expanded regardless of the study type.

Recommendations

Given the limited number of high-quality studies and the gaps in the current literature, it is important to conduct additional research to expand the evidence base for the PTSD interventions in natural disaster survivors. This could include more randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with larger sample sizes, longer follow-up periods, and rigorous methodology to assess the effectiveness of different interventions.

The majority of studies in the reviewed literature focused on Asian populations, reflecting the frequency of natural disasters in that region. However. It is important to explore the effectiveness of interventions across diverse populations, including different ethnic and cultural groups. Conducting studies in other regions of the world, such as Europe, Africa, or South America, would provide a more comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of interventions in various cultural contexts.

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April 3, 2024

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Researchers closer to near real-time disaster monitoring

by Elaina Hancock, University of Connecticut

When disaster hits, a quick and coordinated response is needed, and that requires data to assess the nature of the damage, the scale of response needed, and to plan safe evacuations.

From the ground, this data collection can take days or weeks, but a team of UConn researchers has found a way to drastically cut the lag time for these assessments using remote sensing data and machine learning , bringing disturbance assessment closer to near real-time (NRT) monitoring. Their findings are published in Remote Sensing of Environment .

Su Ye, a post-doctoral researcher in UConn's Global Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory (GERS) and the paper's first author, says he was inspired by methods used by biomedical researchers to study the earliest symptoms of infections.

"It's a very intuitive idea," says Ye. "For example, with COVID, the early symptoms can be very subtle, and you cannot tell it's COVID until several weeks later when the symptoms become severe and then they confirm infection."

Ye explains this method is called retrospective chart review (RCR) and it is especially helpful in learning more about infections that have a long latency period between initial exposure to the development of obvious infection.

"This research uses the same ideas. When we're doing land disturbance monitoring of things like disasters or diseases in forests, for example, at the very beginning of our remote sensing observations, we may have very few or only one remote sensing image, so catching the symptoms early could be very beneficial," says Ye.

Several days or weeks after a disturbance, researchers can confirm a change, and much like a patient diagnosed with COVID, Ye reasoned they could trace back and do a retrospective analysis to see if earlier signals could be found in the data and if those data could be used to construct a model for near real-time monitoring.

Ye explains that they have a wealth of data to work with—for example, Landsat data stretches back 50 years—so the team could perform a full retrospective analysis to help create an algorithm that can detect changes much faster than current methods which rely on a more manual approach.

"There is so much data and many good products but we have never taken full advantage of them to retrospectively analyze the symptoms for future analysis. We have never connected the past and the future, but this work is bringing these two together."

Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment and Director of the GERS Laboratory Zhe Zhu says they used the multitudes of data available and applied machine learning, along with physical barriers to pioneer a technique that pushes the boundary of near real-time detection to, at most, four days as opposed to a month or more.

Until now, early detection was more challenging, because it is harder to differentiate change in the early post-disturbance stages, says Zhu.

"These data contain a lot of noise caused by things like clouds, cloud shadows, smoke, aerosols, even the changing of the seasons, and accounting for these variations makes the interpretation of real change on the Earth's surface difficult, especially when the goal is to detect those disturbances as soon as possible."

A key point in developing the method is the open access to the most advanced data available at medium-resolution, says Ye.

"Scientists in the United States are in collaboration with European scientists, and we combine all four satellites, so we have built upon the work of many, many others. Satellite technologies like Landsat—I think that's one of the greatest projects in human history."

Beyond making the images open source , Zhu adds that the data set—NASA Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 data (HLS)—was harmonized by a team at NASA, meaning the Landsat and Sentinel-2 data were all calibrated to the same resolution, which saves a lot of processing time and allows researchers to start working with the data directly,

"Without the NASA HLS data, we may spend months to just get the data ready."

Ye explains they set thresholds based on empirical knowledge from what was seen in previous land disturbances. They look at signals in the data, called spectral change, and calculate the overall magnitude of change to help distinguish the noise from the early signals of disturbances.

This approach ignores other relevant important disturbance-related information such as spectral change angle, patterns of seasonality, pre-disturbance land condition, says Ye.

"The new method lets the past data supervise us to find the real signals. For example, some disturbances occur in certain seasons, so similarity could be taken into account, and some disturbances have special spectral features that will increase at certain bands, but decrease in other bands. We can then use the data to build a model to better characterize the changes."

On the other hand, we took advantage of numerous existing disturbance products that could be used as training data in machine learning and AI, says Zhu.

"Once this massive amount of training data is collected, there can be some wrong pixels, but this machine learning approach can further refine the results and provide better results. It's as if the physical, statistical rules are talking to the machine learning approach and they work together to improve the results."

Co-author and Postdoctoral Researcher Ji Won Suh says the team is eager to continue working on this method and to monitor land disturbances nationwide.

"For future directions, I hope we can help to tell the story about socio-economic impacts and what is going on in our earth system. If denser times series data are available, and more data storage is available, together with this algorithm, we can understand our system more intuitively. I'm very much looking forward to the future."

Zhu says the approach is already attracting interest, and he expects the interest will grow. Their work is open source and Zhu says they are happy to help other groups adopt the method. The platform has already been used for near-real-time disaster monitoring. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the team quickly employed this method to aid in the recovery efforts.

"I think it is extremely beneficial," says Zhu. "If any kind of disaster happens, we can see the damage in the area quickly and determine the extent and the estimated cost for recovery. We're hoping to have this comprehensive land disturbance monitoring system in near real-time to help people reduce the damage from those big disasters."

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Research examines tweets during Hurricane María to analyze social media use during disasters

Social media can be a useful tool for communicating during extreme weather events. Omar Pérez Figueroa, an urban and regional planning professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, examined how Twitter (now X) was used when Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico in 2017.

His findings are published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences .

Pérez Figueroa studies how impoverished and marginalized communities address environmental inequalities, water governance and disaster resilience.

For his research on social media and risk communication, he collected data from Twitter before the platform changed its name, so he continued to refer to it as Twitter for his study. He analyzed a sample of more than 2,000 tweets from before Hurricane María made landfall to six months after the storm to determine "what the event tells us about the reactions and behavior of people, and what is useful to understand to be better prepared."

Pérez Figueroa analyzed the timing of the tweets and their geographic distribution. Most of them were made prior to landfall, with smaller peaks of activity at later times -- for example, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency deleted Puerto Rican disaster statistics from its website. In the U.S., those tweeting about the hurricane were highly concentrated in Florida, California, New York and Texas, all areas with large Puerto Rican populations.

The sample included tweets from Puerto Rico, despite the collapse of the island's power grid. Pérez Figueroa said Twitter doesn't require a strong signal, making sending messages under disaster conditions more accessible.

He identified three main categories of messages: information about what was happening on the ground in Puerto Rico; understanding the social and political conditions that turned the hurricane into a disaster; and emotional messages seeking help or expressing support. Those in Puerto Rico used social media to inform others about their condition and location, ask for and receive help, and document the disaster.

Pérez Figueroa wrote that many tweets about the sociopolitical causes of the disaster blamed local and federal governments for their slow and inefficient response. He said it underscored the use of social media in solidarity and grassroots recovery efforts; as a tool to pressure for prompt government response and the development of policies that address vulnerabilities; and to communicate needs and raise awareness among people not directly affected by the local event about where to donate.

The tweets included information about the Guajataca Dam failure as it occurred.

"Being able to access critical data during and after a disaster can provide the difference between life and death, especially for those on the ground. Recognizing the increasing use of social media for disaster response and aid can increase communities' disaster resilience, especially when the communities hardest hit have limited communication and are remote, like the case of Puerto Rico," Pérez Figueroa wrote.

In addition to aiding in preparedness and recovery for future disasters, the research served as a case study to test and refine a framework for examining disaster social media communication, Pérez Figueroa said.

"Understanding how individuals use Twitter during disasters and in the immediate aftermath will be important as hurricanes occur more frequently, and as the public continues to turn to social media as a mainstream news source. Public health and disaster response organizations will benefit from a more detailed understanding as to who and how communication on social media can play a role in mitigating the public health burdens that result from disaster events," he wrote.

Pérez Figueroa said areas for future research include how traditional media can influence discussions on social media, how narratives on the two differ, whether social media influences emergency responders and policymakers to improve disaster response, and how groups from different socioeconomic levels use social media during disasters.

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Materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau . Original written by Jodi Heckel. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Omar Pérez-Figueroa, Nícola Ulibarrí, Suellen Hopfer. A content analysis of social media discourse during Hurricane María: filling a void when traditional media are silent . Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences , 2024; DOI: 10.1007/s13412-024-00909-1

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Examining the role of community resilience and social capital on mental health in public health emergency and disaster response: a scoping review

• C. E. Hall 1 , 2 ,
• H. Wehling 1 ,
• J. Stansfield 3 ,
• J. South 3 ,
• S. K. Brooks 2 ,
• N. Greenberg 2 , 4 ,
• R. Amlôt 1 &
• D. Weston 1  

BMC Public Health volume  23 , Article number:  2482 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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The ability of the public to remain psychologically resilient in the face of public health emergencies and disasters (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) is a key factor in the effectiveness of a national response to such events. Community resilience and social capital are often perceived as beneficial and ensuring that a community is socially and psychologically resilient may aid emergency response and recovery. This review presents a synthesis of literature which answers the following research questions: How are community resilience and social capital quantified in research?; What is the impact of community resilience on mental wellbeing?; What is the impact of infectious disease outbreaks, disasters and emergencies on community resilience and social capital?; and, What types of interventions enhance community resilience and social capital?

A scoping review procedure was followed. Searches were run across Medline, PsycInfo, and EMBASE, with search terms covering both community resilience and social capital, public health emergencies, and mental health. 26 papers met the inclusion criteria.

The majority of retained papers originated in the USA, used a survey methodology to collect data, and involved a natural disaster. There was no common method for measuring community resilience or social capital. The association between community resilience and social capital with mental health was regarded as positive in most cases. However, we found that community resilience, and social capital, were initially negatively impacted by public health emergencies and enhanced by social group activities.

Several key recommendations are proposed based on the outcomes from the review, which include: the need for a standardised and validated approach to measuring both community resilience and social capital; that there should be enhanced effort to improve preparedness to public health emergencies in communities by gauging current levels of community resilience and social capital; that community resilience and social capital should be bolstered if areas are at risk of disasters or public health emergencies; the need to ensure that suitable short-term support is provided to communities with high resilience in the immediate aftermath of a public health emergency or disaster; the importance of conducting robust evaluation of community resilience initiatives deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peer Review reports

For the general population, public health emergencies and disasters (e.g., natural disasters; infectious disease outbreaks; Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear incidents) can give rise to a plethora of negative outcomes relating to both health (e.g. increased mental health problems [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]) and the economy (e.g., increased unemployment and decreased levels of tourism [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]). COVID-19 is a current, and ongoing, example of a public health emergency which has affected over 421 million individuals worldwide [ 7 ]. The long term implications of COVID-19 are not yet known, but there are likely to be repercussions for physical health, mental health, and other non-health related outcomes for a substantial time to come [ 8 , 9 ]. As a result, it is critical to establish methods which may inform approaches to alleviate the longer-term negative consequences that are likely to emerge in the aftermath of both COVID-19 and any future public health emergency.

The definition of resilience often differs within the literature, but ultimately resilience is considered a dynamic process of adaptation. It is related to processes and capabilities at the individual, community and system level that result in good health and social outcomes, in spite of negative events, serious threats and hazards [ 10 ]. Furthermore, Ziglio [ 10 ] refers to four key types of resilience capacity: adaptive, the ability to withstand and adjust to unfavourable conditions and shocks; absorptive, the ability to withstand but also to recover and manage using available assets and skills; anticipatory, the ability to predict and minimize vulnerability; and transformative, transformative change so that systems better cope with new conditions.

There is no one settled definition of community resilience (CR). However, it generally relates to the ability of a community to withstand, adapt and permit growth in adverse circumstances due to social structures, networks and interdependencies within the community [ 11 ]. Social capital (SC) is considered a major determinant of CR [ 12 , 13 ], and reflects strength of a social network, community reciprocity, and trust in people and institutions [ 14 ]. These aspects of community are usually conceptualised primarily as protective factors that enable communities to cope and adapt collectively to threats. SC is often broken down into further categories [ 15 ], for example: cognitive SC (i.e. perceptions of community relations, such as trust, mutual help and attachment) and structural SC (i.e. what actually happens within the community, such as participation, socialising) [ 16 ]; or, bonding SC (i.e. connections among individuals who are emotionally close, and result in bonds to a particular group [ 17 ]) and bridging SC (i.e. acquaintances or individuals loosely connected that span different social groups [ 18 ]). Generally, CR is perceived to be primarily beneficial for multiple reasons (e.g. increased social support [ 18 , 19 ], protection of mental health [ 20 , 21 ]), and strengthening community resilience is a stated health goal of the World Health Organisation [ 22 ] when aiming to alleviate health inequalities and protect wellbeing. This is also reflected by organisations such as Public Health England (now split into the UK Health Security Agency and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) [ 23 ] and more recently, CR has been targeted through the endorsement of Community Champions (who are volunteers trained to support and to help improve health and wellbeing. Community Champions also reflect their local communities in terms of population demographics for example age, ethnicity and gender) as part of the COVID-19 response in the UK (e.g. [ 24 , 25 ]).

Despite the vested interest in bolstering communities, the research base establishing: how to understand and measure CR and SC; the effect of CR and SC, both during and following a public health emergency (such as the COVID-19 pandemic); and which types of CR or SC are the most effective to engage, is relatively small. Given the importance of ensuring resilience against, and swift recovery from, public health emergencies, it is critically important to establish and understand the evidence base for these approaches. As a result, the current review sought to answer the following research questions: (1) How are CR and SC quantified in research?; (2) What is the impact of community resilience on mental wellbeing?; (3) What is the impact of infectious disease outbreaks, disasters and emergencies on community resilience and social capital?; and, (4) What types of interventions enhance community resilience and social capital?

By collating research in order to answer these research questions, the authors have been able to propose several key recommendations that could be used to both enhance and evaluate CR and SC effectively to facilitate the long-term recovery from COVID-19, and also to inform the use of CR and SC in any future public health disasters and emergencies.

A scoping review methodology was followed due to the ease of summarising literature on a given topic for policy makers and practitioners [ 26 ], and is detailed in the following sections.

Identification of relevant studies

An initial search strategy was developed by authors CH and DW and included terms which related to: CR and SC, given the absence of a consistent definition of CR, and the link between CR and SC, the review focuses on both CR and SC to identify as much relevant literature as possible (adapted for purpose from Annex 1: [ 27 ], as well as through consultation with review commissioners); public health emergencies and disasters [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ], and psychological wellbeing and recovery (derived a priori from literature). To ensure a focus on both public health and psychological research, the final search was carried across Medline, PsycInfo, and EMBASE using OVID. The final search took place on the 18th of May 2020, the search strategy used for all three databases can be found in Supplementary file 1 .

Selection criteria

The inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed alongside the search strategy. Initially the criteria were relatively inclusive and were subject to iterative development to reflect the authors’ familiarisation with the literature. For example, the decision was taken to exclude research which focused exclusively on social support and did not mention communities as an initial title/abstract search suggested that the majority of this literature did not meet the requirements of our research question.

The full and final inclusion and exclusion criteria used can be found in Supplementary file 2 . In summary, authors decided to focus on the general population (i.e., non-specialist, e.g. non-healthcare worker or government official) to allow the review to remain community focused. The research must also have assessed the impact of CR and/or SC on mental health and wellbeing, resilience, and recovery during and following public health emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks which affect communities (to ensure the research is relevant to the review aims), have conducted primary research, and have a full text available or provided by the first author when contacted.

Charting the data

All papers were first title and abstract screened by CH or DW. Papers then were full text reviewed by CH to ensure each paper met the required eligibility criteria, if unsure about a paper it was also full text reviewed by DW. All papers that were retained post full-text review were subjected to a standardised data extraction procedure. A table was made for the purpose of extracting the following data: title, authors, origin, year of publication, study design, aim, disaster type, sample size and characteristics, variables examined, results, restrictions/limitations, and recommendations. Supplementary file 3 details the charting the data process.

Analytical method

Data was synthesised using a Framework approach [ 32 ], a common method for analysing qualitative research. This method was chosen as it was originally used for large-scale social policy research [ 33 ] as it seeks to identify: what works, for whom, in what conditions, and why [ 34 ]. This approach is also useful for identifying commonalities and differences in qualitative data and potential relationships between different parts of the data [ 33 ]. An a priori framework was established by CH and DW. Extracted data was synthesised in relation to each research question, and the process was iterative to ensure maximum saturation using the available data.

Study selection

The final search strategy yielded 3584 records. Following the removal of duplicates, 2191 records remained and were included in title and abstract screening. A PRISMA flow diagram is presented in Fig.  1 .

PRISMA flow diagram

At the title and abstract screening stage, the process became more iterative as the inclusion criteria were developed and refined. For the first iteration of screening, CH or DW sorted all records into ‘include,’ ‘exclude,’ and ‘unsure’. All ‘unsure’ papers were re-assessed by CH, and a random selection of ~ 20% of these were also assessed by DW. Where there was disagreement between authors the records were retained, and full text screened. The remaining papers were reviewed by CH, and all records were categorised into ‘include’ and ‘exclude’. Following full-text screening, 26 papers were retained for use in the review.

Study characteristics

This section of the review addresses study characteristics of those which met the inclusion criteria, which comprises: date of publication, country of origin, study design, study location, disaster, and variables examined.

Date of publication

Publication dates across the 26 papers spanned from 2008 to 2020 (see Fig.  2 ). The number of papers published was relatively low and consistent across this timescale (i.e. 1–2 per year, except 2010 and 2013 when none were published) up until 2017 where the number of papers peaked at 5. From 2017 to 2020 there were 15 papers published in total. The amount of papers published in recent years suggests a shift in research and interest towards CR and SC in a disaster/ public health emergency context.

Graph to show retained papers date of publication

Country of origin

The locations of the first authors’ institutes at the time of publication were extracted to provide a geographical spread of the retained papers. The majority originated from the USA [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ], followed by China [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ], Japan [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], Australia [ 51 , 52 , 53 ], The Netherlands [ 54 , 55 ], New Zealand [ 56 ], Peru [ 57 ], Iran [ 58 ], Austria [ 59 ], and Croatia [ 60 ].

There were multiple methodological approaches carried out across retained papers. The most common formats included surveys or questionnaires [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 42 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 57 , 59 ], followed by interviews [ 39 , 40 , 43 , 51 , 52 , 60 ]. Four papers used both surveys and interviews [ 35 , 41 , 45 , 58 ], and two papers conducted data analysis (one using open access data from a Social Survey [ 44 ] and one using a Primary Health Organisations Register [ 56 ]).

Study location

The majority of the studies were carried out in Japan [ 36 , 42 , 44 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], followed by the USA [ 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ], China [ 43 , 45 , 46 , 53 ], Australia [ 51 , 52 ], and the UK [ 54 , 55 ]. The remaining studies were carried out in Croatia [ 60 ], Peru [ 57 ], Austria [ 59 ], New Zealand [ 56 ] and Iran [ 58 ].

Multiple different types of disaster were researched across the retained papers. Earthquakes were the most common type of disaster examined [ 45 , 47 , 49 , 50 , 53 , 56 , 57 , 58 ], followed by research which assessed the impact of two disastrous events which had happened in the same area (e.g. Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Mississippi, and the Great East Japan earthquake and Tsunami; [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 42 , 44 , 48 ]). Other disaster types included: flooding [ 51 , 54 , 55 , 59 , 60 ], hurricanes [ 35 , 39 , 41 ], infectious disease outbreaks [ 43 , 46 ], oil spillage [ 40 ], and drought [ 52 ].

Variables of interest examined

Across the 26 retained papers: eight referred to examining the impact of SC [ 35 , 37 , 39 , 41 , 46 , 49 , 55 , 60 ]; eight examined the impact of cognitive and structural SC as separate entities [ 40 , 42 , 45 , 48 , 50 , 54 , 57 , 59 ]; one examined bridging and bonding SC as separate entities [ 58 ]; two examined the impact of CR [ 38 , 56 ]; and two employed a qualitative methodology but drew findings in relation to bonding and bridging SC, and SC generally [ 51 , 52 ]. Additionally, five papers examined the impact of the following variables: ‘community social cohesion’ [ 36 ], ‘neighbourhood connectedness’ [ 44 ], ‘social support at the community level’ [ 47 ], ‘community connectedness’ [ 43 ] and ‘sense of community’ [ 53 ]. Table  1 provides additional details on this.

How is CR and SC measured or quantified in research?

The measures used to examine CR and SC are presented Table  1 . It is apparent that there is no uniformity in how SC or CR is measured across the research. Multiple measures are used throughout the retained studies, and nearly all are unique. Additionally, SC was examined at multiple different levels (e.g. cognitive and structural, bonding and bridging), and in multiple different forms (e.g. community connectedness, community cohesion).

What is the association between CR and SC on mental wellbeing?

To best compare research, the following section reports on CR, and facets of SC separately. Please see Supplementary file 4  for additional information on retained papers methods of measuring mental wellbeing.

• Community resilience

CR relates to the ability of a community to withstand, adapt and permit growth in adverse circumstances due to social structures, networks and interdependencies within the community [ 11 ].

The impact of CR on mental wellbeing was consistently positive. For example, research indicated that there was a positive association between CR and number of common mental health (i.e. anxiety and mood) treatments post-disaster [ 56 ]. Similarly, other research suggests that CR is positively related to psychological resilience, which is inversely related to depressive symptoms) [ 37 ]. The same research also concluded that CR is protective of psychological resilience and is therefore protective of depressive symptoms [ 37 ].

• Social capital

SC reflects the strength of a social network, community reciprocity, and trust in people and institutions [ 14 ]. These aspects of community are usually conceptualised primarily as protective factors that enable communities to cope and adapt collectively to threats.

There were inconsistencies across research which examined the impact of abstract SC (i.e. not refined into bonding/bridging or structural/cognitive) on mental wellbeing. However, for the majority of cases, research deems SC to be beneficial. For example, research has concluded that, SC is protective against post-traumatic stress disorder [ 55 ], anxiety [ 46 ], psychological distress [ 50 ], and stress [ 46 ]. Additionally, SC has been found to facilitate post-traumatic growth [ 38 ], and also to be useful to be drawn upon in times of stress [ 52 ], both of which could be protective of mental health. Similarly, research has also found that emotional recovery following a disaster is more difficult for those who report to have low levels of SC [ 51 ].

Conversely, however, research has also concluded that when other situational factors (e.g. personal resources) were controlled for, a positive relationship between community resources and life satisfaction was no longer significant [ 60 ]. Furthermore, some research has concluded that a high level of SC can result in a community facing greater stress immediately post disaster. Indeed, one retained paper found that high levels of SC correlate with higher levels of post-traumatic stress immediately following a disaster [ 39 ]. However, in the later stages following a disaster, this relationship can reverse, with SC subsequently providing an aid to recovery [ 41 ]. By way of explanation, some researchers have suggested that communities with stronger SC carry the greatest load in terms of helping others (i.e. family, friends and neighbours) as well as themselves immediately following the disaster, but then as time passes the communities recover at a faster rate as they are able to rely on their social networks for support [ 41 ].

Cognitive and structural social capital

Cognitive SC refers to perceptions of community relations, such as trust, mutual help and attachment, and structural SC refers to what actually happens within the community, such as participation, socialising [ 16 ].

Cognitive SC has been found to be protective [ 49 ] against PTSD [ 54 , 57 ], depression [ 40 , 54 ]) mild mood disorder; [ 48 ]), anxiety [ 48 , 54 ] and increase self-efficacy [ 59 ].

For structural SC, research is again inconsistent. On the one hand, structural SC has been found to: increase perceived self-efficacy, be protective of depression [ 40 ], buffer the impact of housing damage on cognitive decline [ 42 ] and provide support during disasters and over the recovery period [ 59 ]. However, on the other hand, it has been found to have no association with PTSD [ 54 , 57 ] or depression, and is also associated with a higher prevalence of anxiety [ 54 ]. Similarly, it is also suggested by additional research that structural SC can harm women’s mental health, either due to the pressure of expectations to help and support others or feelings of isolation [ 49 ].

Bonding and bridging social capital

Bonding SC refers to connections among individuals who are emotionally close, and result in bonds to a particular group [ 17 ], and bridging SC refers to acquaintances or individuals loosely connected that span different social groups [ 18 ].

One research study concluded that both bonding and bridging SC were protective against post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms [ 58 ]. Bridging capital was deemed to be around twice as effective in buffering against post-traumatic stress disorder than bonding SC [ 58 ].

Other community variables

Community social cohesion was significantly associated with a lower risk of post-traumatic stress disorder symptom development [ 35 ], and this was apparent even whilst controlling for depressive symptoms at baseline and disaster impact variables (e.g. loss of family member or housing damage) [ 36 ]. Similarly, sense of community, community connectedness, social support at the community level and neighbourhood connectedness all provided protective benefits for a range of mental health, wellbeing and recovery variables, including: depression [ 53 ], subjective wellbeing (in older adults only) [ 43 ], psychological distress [ 47 ], happiness [ 44 ] and life satisfaction [ 53 ].

Research has also concluded that community level social support is protective against mild mood and anxiety disorder, but only for individuals who have had no previous disaster experience [ 48 ]. Additionally, a study which separated SC into social cohesion and social participation concluded that at a community level, social cohesion is protective against depression [ 49 ] whereas social participation at community level is associated with an increased risk of depression amongst women [ 49 ].

What is the impact of Infectious disease outbreaks / disasters and emergencies on community resilience?

From a cross-sectional perspective, research has indicated that disasters and emergencies can have a negative effect on certain types of SC. Specifically, cognitive SC has been found to be impacted by disaster impact, whereas structural SC has gone unaffected [ 45 ]. Disaster impact has also been shown to have a negative effect on community relationships more generally [ 52 ].

Additionally, of the eight studies which collected data at multiple time points [ 35 , 36 , 41 , 42 , 47 , 49 , 56 , 60 ], three reported the effect of a disaster on the level of SC within a community [ 40 , 42 , 49 ]. All three of these studies concluded that disasters may have a negative impact on the levels of SC within a community. The first study found that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill had a negative effect on SC and social support, and this in turn explained an overall increase in the levels of depression within the community [ 40 ]. A possible explanation for the negative effect lays in ‘corrosive communities’, known for increased social conflict and reduced social support, that are sometimes created following oil spills [ 40 ]. It is proposed that corrosive communities often emerge due to a loss of natural resources that bring social groups together (e.g., for recreational activities), as well as social disparity (e.g., due to unequal distribution of economic impact) becoming apparent in the community following disaster [ 40 ]. The second study found that SC (in the form of social cohesion, informal socialising and social participation) decreased after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan; it was suggested that this change correlated with incidence of cognitive decline [ 42 ]. However, the third study reported more mixed effects based on physical circumstances of the communities’ natural environment: Following an earthquake, those who lived in mountainous areas with an initial high level of pre-community SC saw a decrease in SC post disaster [ 49 ]. However, communities in flat areas (which were home to younger residents and had a higher population density) saw an increase in SC [ 49 ]. It was proposed that this difference could be due to the need for those who lived in mountainous areas to seek prolonged refuge due to subsequent landslides [ 49 ].

What types of intervention enhance CR and SC and protect survivors?

There were mixed effects across the 26 retained papers when examining the effect of CR and SC on mental wellbeing. However, there is evidence that an increase in SC [ 56 , 57 ], with a focus on cognitive SC [ 57 ], namely by: building social networks [ 45 , 51 , 53 ], enhancing feelings of social cohesion [ 35 , 36 ] and promoting a sense of community [ 53 ], can result in an increase in CR and potentially protect survivors’ wellbeing and mental health following a disaster. An increase in SC may also aid in decreasing the need for individual psychological interventions in the aftermath of a disaster [ 55 ]. As a result, recommendations and suggested methods to bolster CR and SC from the retained papers have been extracted and separated into general methods, preparedness and policy level implementation.

General methods

Suggested methods to build SC included organising recreational activity-based groups [ 44 ] to broaden [ 51 , 53 ] and preserve current social networks [ 42 ], introducing initiatives to increase social cohesion and trust [ 51 ], and volunteering to increase the number of social ties between residents [ 59 ]. Research also notes that it is important to take a ‘no one left behind approach’ when organising recreational and social community events, as failure to do so could induce feelings of isolation for some members of the community [ 49 ]. Furthermore, gender differences should also be considered as research indicates that males and females may react differently to community level SC (as evidence suggests males are instead more impacted by individual level SC; in comparison to women who have larger and more diverse social networks [ 49 ]). Therefore, interventions which aim to raise community level social participation, with the aim of expanding social connections and gaining support, may be beneficial [ 42 , 47 ].

Preparedness

In order to prepare for disasters, it may be beneficial to introduce community-targeted methods or interventions to increase levels of SC and CR as these may aid in ameliorating the consequences of a public health emergency or disaster [ 57 ]. To indicate which communities have low levels of SC, one study suggests implementing a 3-item scale of social cohesion to map areas and target interventions [ 42 ].

It is important to consider that communities with a high level of SC may have a lower level of risk perception, due to the established connections and supportive network they have with those around them [ 61 ]. However, for the purpose of preparedness, this is not ideal as perception of risk is a key factor when seeking to encourage behavioural adherence. This could be overcome by introducing communication strategies which emphasise the necessity of social support, but also highlights the need for additional measures to reduce residual risk [ 59 ]. Furthermore, support in the form of financial assistance to foster current community initiatives may prove beneficial to rural areas, for example through the use of an asset-based community development framework [ 52 ].

Policy level

At a policy level, the included papers suggest a range of ways that CR and SC could be bolstered and used. These include: providing financial support for community initiatives and collective coping strategies, (e.g. using asset-based community development [ 52 ]); ensuring policies for long-term recovery focus on community sustainable development (e.g. community festival and community centre activities) [ 44 ]; and development of a network amongst cooperative corporations formed for reconstruction and to organise self-help recovery sessions among residents of adjacent areas [ 58 ].

This scoping review sought to synthesise literature concerning the role of SC and CR during public health emergencies and disasters. Specifically, in this review we have examined: the methods used to measure CR and SC; the impact of CR and SC on mental wellbeing during disasters and emergencies; the impact of disasters and emergencies on CR and SC; and the types of interventions which can be used to enhance CR. To do this, data was extracted from 26 peer-reviewed journal articles. From this synthesis, several key themes have been identified, which can be used to develop guidelines and recommendations for deploying CR and SC in a public health emergency or disaster context. These key themes and resulting recommendations are summarised below.

Firstly, this review established that there is no consistent or standardised approach to measuring CR or SC within the general population. This finding is consistent with a review conducted by the World Health Organization which concludes that despite there being a number of frameworks that contain indicators across different determinants of health, there is a lack of consensus on priority areas for measurement and no widely accepted indicator [ 27 ]. As a result, there are many measures of CR and SC apparent within the literature (e.g., [ 62 , 63 ]), an example of a developed and validated measure is provided by Sherrieb, Norris and Galea [ 64 ]. Similarly, the definitions of CR and SC differ widely between researchers, which created a barrier to comparing and summarising information. Therefore, future research could seek to compare various interpretations of CR and to identify any overlapping concepts. However, a previous systemic review conducted by Patel et al. (2017) concludes that there are nine core elements of CR (local knowledge, community networks and relationships, communication, health, governance and leadership, resources, economic investment, preparedness, and mental outlook), with 19 further sub-elements therein [ 30 ]. Therefore, as CR is a multi-dimensional construct, the implications from the findings are that multiple aspects of social infrastructure may need to be considered.

Secondly, our synthesis of research concerning the role of CR and SC for ensuring mental health and wellbeing during, or following, a public health emergency or disaster revealed mixed effects. Much of the research indicates either a generally protective effect on mental health and wellbeing, or no effect; however, the literature demonstrates some potential for a high level of CR/SC to backfire and result in a negative effect for populations during, or following, a public health emergency or disaster. Considered together, our synthesis indicates that cognitive SC is the only facet of SC which was perceived as universally protective across all retained papers. This is consistent with a systematic review which also concludes that: (a) community level cognitive SC is associated with a lower risk of common mental disorders, while; (b) community level structural SC had inconsistent effects [ 65 ].

Further examination of additional data extracted from studies which found that CR/SC had a negative effect on mental health and wellbeing revealed no commonalities that might explain these effects (Please see Supplementary file 5 for additional information)

One potential explanation may come from a retained paper which found that high levels of SC result in an increase in stress level immediately post disaster [ 41 ]. This was suggested to be due to individuals having greater burdens due to wishing to help and support their wide networks as well as themselves. However, as time passes the levels of SC allow the community to come together and recover at a faster rate [ 41 ]. As this was the only retained paper which produced this finding, it would be beneficial for future research to examine boundary conditions for the positive effects of CR/SC; that is, to explore circumstances under which CR/SC may be more likely to put communities at greater risk. This further research should also include additional longitudinal research to validate the conclusions drawn by [ 41 ] as resilience is a dynamic process of adaption.

Thirdly, disasters and emergencies were generally found to have a negative effect on levels of SC. One retained paper found a mixed effect of SC in relation to an earthquake, however this paper separated participants by area in which they lived (i.e., mountainous vs. flat), which explains this inconsistent effect [ 49 ]. Dangerous areas (i.e. mountainous) saw a decrease in community SC in comparison to safer areas following the earthquake (an effect the authors attributed to the need to seek prolonged refuge), whereas participants from the safer areas (which are home to younger residents with a higher population density) saw an increase in SC [ 49 ]. This is consistent with the idea that being able to participate socially is a key element of SC [ 12 ]. Overall, however, this was the only retained paper which produced a variable finding in relation to the effect of disaster on levels of CR/SC.

Finally, research identified through our synthesis promotes the idea of bolstering SC (particularly cognitive SC) and cohesion in communities likely to be affected by disaster to improve levels of CR. This finding provides further understanding of the relationship between CR and SC; an association that has been reported in various articles seeking to provide conceptual frameworks (e.g., [ 66 , 67 ]) as well as indicator/measurement frameworks [ 27 ]. Therefore, this could be done by creating and promoting initiatives which foster SC and create bonds within the community. Papers included in the current review suggest that recreational-based activity groups and volunteering are potential methods for fostering SC and creating community bonds [ 44 , 51 , 59 ]. Similarly, further research demonstrates that feelings of social cohesion are enhanced by general social activities (e.g. fairs and parades [ 18 ]). Also, actively encouraging activities, programs and interventions which enhance connectedness and SC have been reported to be desirable to increase CR [ 68 ]. This suggestion is supported by a recent scoping review of literature [ 67 ] examined community champion approaches for the COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery and established that creating and promoting SC focused initiatives within the community during pandemic response is highly beneficial [ 67 ]. In terms of preparedness, research states that it may be beneficial for levels of SC and CR in communities at risk to be assessed, to allow targeted interventions where the population may be at most risk following an incident [ 42 , 44 ]. Additionally, from a more critical perspective, we acknowledge that ‘resilience’ can often be perceived as a focus on individual capacity to adapt to adversity rather than changing or mitigating the causes of adverse conditions [ 69 , 70 ]. Therefore, CR requires an integrated system approach across individual, community and structural levels [ 17 ]. Also, it is important that community members are engaged in defining and agreeing how community resilience is measured [ 27 ] rather than it being imposed by system leads or decision-makers.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, is it expected that there will be long-term repercussions both from an economic [ 8 ] and a mental health perspective [ 71 ]. Furthermore, the findings from this review suggest that although those in areas with high levels of SC may be negatively affected in the acute stage, as time passes, they have potential to rebound at a faster rate than those with lower levels of SC. Ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of current initiatives as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses into a recovery phase will be invaluable for supplementing the evidence base identified through this review.

• Recommendations

As a result of this review, a number of recommendations are suggested for policy and practice during public health emergencies and recovery.

Future research should seek to establish a standardised and validated approach to measuring and defining CR and SC within communities. There are ongoing efforts in this area, for example [ 72 ]. Additionally, community members should be involved in the process of defining how CR is measured.

There should be an enhanced effort to improve preparedness for public health emergencies and disasters in local communities by gauging current levels of SC and CR within communities using a standardised measure. This approach could support specific targeting of populations with low levels of CR/SC in case of a disaster or public health emergency, whilst also allowing for consideration of support for those with high levels of CR (as these populations can be heavily impacted initially following a disaster). By distinguishing levels of SC and CR, tailored community-centred approaches could be implemented, such as those listed in a guide released by PHE in 2015 [ 73 ].

CR and SC (specifically cognitive SC) should be bolstered if communities are at risk of experiencing a disaster or public health emergency. This can be achieved by using interventions which aim to increase a sense of community and create new social ties (e.g., recreational group activities, volunteering). Additionally, when aiming to achieve this, it is important to be mindful of the risk of increased levels of CR/SC to backfire, as well as seeking to advocate an integrated system approach across individual, community and structural levels.

It is necessary to be aware that although communities with high existing levels of resilience / SC may experience short-term negative consequences following a disaster, over time these communities might be able to recover at a faster rate. It is therefore important to ensure that suitable short-term support is provided to these communities in the immediate aftermath of a public health emergency or disaster.

Robust evaluation of the community resilience initiatives deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic response is essential to inform the evidence base concerning the effectiveness of CR/ SC. These evaluations should continue through the response phase and into the recovery phase to help develop our understanding of the long-term consequences of such interventions.

Limitations

Despite this review being the first in this specific topic area, there are limitations that must be considered. Firstly, it is necessary to note that communities are generally highly diverse and the term ‘community’ in academic literature is a subject of much debate (see: [ 74 ]), therefore this must be considered when comparing and collating research involving communities. Additionally, the measures of CR and SC differ substantially across research, including across the 26 retained papers used in the current review. This makes the act of comparing and collating research findings very difficult. This issue is highlighted as a key outcome from this review, and suggestions for how to overcome this in future research are provided. Additionally, we acknowledge that there will be a relationship between CR & SC even where studies measure only at individual or community level. A review [ 75 ] on articulating a hypothesis of the link to health inequalities suggests that wider structural determinants of health need to be accounted for. Secondly, despite the final search strategy encompassing terms for both CR and SC, only one retained paper directly measured CR; thus, making the research findings more relevant to SC. Future research could seek to focus on CR to allow for a comparison of findings. Thirdly, the review was conducted early in the COVID-19 pandemic and so does not include more recent publications focusing on resilience specifically in the context of COVID-19. Regardless of this fact, the synthesis of, and recommendations drawn from, the reviewed studies are agnostic to time and specific incident and contain critical elements necessary to address as the pandemic moves from response to recovery. Further research should review the effectiveness of specific interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic for collation in a subsequent update to this current paper. Fourthly, the current review synthesises findings from countries with individualistic and collectivistic cultures, which may account for some variation in the findings. Lastly, despite choosing a scoping review method for ease of synthesising a wide literature base for use by public health emergency researchers in a relatively tight timeframe, there are disadvantages of a scoping review approach to consider: (1) quality appraisal of retained studies was not carried out; (2) due to the broad nature of a scoping review, more refined and targeted reviews of literature (e.g., systematic reviews) may be able to provide more detailed research outcomes. Therefore, future research should seek to use alternative methods (e.g., empirical research, systematic reviews of literature) to add to the evidence base on CR and SC impact and use in public health practice.

This review sought to establish: (1) How CR and SC are quantified in research?; (2) The impact of community resilience on mental wellbeing?; (3) The impact of infectious disease outbreaks, disasters and emergencies on community resilience and social capital?; and, (4) What types of interventions enhance community resilience and social capital?. The chosen search strategy yielded 26 relevant papers from which we were able extract information relating to the aims of this review.

Results from the review revealed that CR and SC are not measured consistently across research. The impact of CR / SC on mental health and wellbeing during emergencies and disasters is mixed (with some potential for backlash), however the literature does identify cognitive SC as particularly protective. Although only a small number of papers compared CR or SC before and after a disaster, the findings were relatively consistent: SC or CR is negatively impacted by a disaster. Methods suggested to bolster SC in communities were centred around social activities, such as recreational group activities and volunteering. Recommendations for both research and practice (with a particular focus on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic) are also presented.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Social Capital

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This study was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Emergency Preparedness and Response, a partnership between Public Health England, King’s College London and the University of East Anglia. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, Public Health England, the UK Health Security Agency or the Department of Health and Social Care [Grant number: NIHR20008900]. Part of this work has been funded by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Department of Health and Social Care, as part of a Collaborative Agreement with Leeds Beckett University.

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Hall, C.E., Wehling, H., Stansfield, J. et al. Examining the role of community resilience and social capital on mental health in public health emergency and disaster response: a scoping review. BMC Public Health 23 , 2482 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17242-x

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25 natural disasters questions

Natural disasters questions.

There are some difficult words on this printable and you may want to pre-teach words such as – eruption, high winds, prepare, meteor, drought, hailstorm, earthquake, doomsday prepper, struck and lightning.

Discussion questions about natural disasters –

Are there any volcanoes in your country?

What is dangerous about volcanic eruptions?

What causes a tsunami? What countries have them?

What natural disasters occur in your country? Which have you seen?

Have you ever been afraid during a storm or high winds?

What is the difference between a hurricane, cyclone, and a typhoon?

How would you prepare if you knew a dangerous storm was coming?

What would happen if a giant meteor hit planet earth?

Have you seen any good disaster films? What happened in the films?

If the end of the world was coming, what would you do in your last week?

What causes a forest fire ? Does your country have them?

Which do you think is more dangerous, a flood or a drought ?

Have you ever been in a hailstorm? What did you do?

What happens when an earthquake hits?

Do you think animals know when a natural disaster is coming?

What is the worst natural disaster you know of? When did it happen?

What disasters do you think there will be more of in the future?

Have you ever helped people after a disaster? How did you help?

Which countries experience sandstorms?

What do you think about doomsday preppers?

Have you ever heard of someone being struck by lightning?

Are there any good things that come from natural disasters?

Are there any places you wouldn’t want to live because of natural disasters?

Has the weather ever damaged something that you owned?

There are also 6 natural disasters worksheets to go along with this activity that include vocabulary matching, writing, and puzzles.

Disaster idioms and expressions

Here are some interesting disaster-related sayings to share with your class.

If something is a recipe for disaster this means the act of doing something will end badly or result in an unfavourable way. For example, if you spend all your money and you don’t have a job, it is a recipe for disaster.

To flood someone with something is to give them too much of it. A person might be flooded with work or flooded with emails.

Even trivial things can be called a disaster if they go badly. A badly baked cake or an attempt to do something that doesn’t go well can be referred to as – a disaster.

If a person holds in a lot of anger and then finally lets it all out they can be said to erupt like a volcano .

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