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Journal of Black Psychology
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Coping With Hurricane Katrina: Psychological Distress and Resilience Among African American Evacuees

Eun-Kyoung Othelia Lee

Boston College, othelia.lee{at}bc.edu

Ce Shen

Boston College

Thanh V. Tran

Boston College

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters in the U.S. history. The economic, physical, and psychological damage to survivors of Katrina may ultimately be incalculable. While this natural disaster affected all racial groups, it was low-income African Americans who disproportionately experienced the greatest suffering. This study examines factors related to psychological resilience in the Hurricane Katrina evacuee sample (N = 363) drawn from the Kaiser Washington Post Harvard Poll #2005 WPH020. The structural equation model (SEM) used explains 34% of the total variance on Katrina victims' resilience measured by their perceived sense of recovery. Findings suggest that those evacuees who reported psychological distress as a reaction to the disaster were less likely to report that they would fully recover from the disaster. All three Hurricane Katrina experience-related variables— being insured, home destruction, and human loss—have significant effects on psychological distress, with human loss having the strongest effect. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Key Words: Hurricane Katrina • African Americans • resiliency • coping • natural disaster

This version was published on February 1, 2009

Journal of Black Psychology, Vol. 35, No. 1, 5-23 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0095798408323354
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