Family Resources, Family Strains, and Stress Following the Northridge Earthquake

Abstract

This study examined the relationships among family resource losses, family coping, social support, family stresses and strains, and psychological distress following a 6.7 magnitude earthquake in Northridge, California. The project includes a control group of persons living in a city that did not experience the earthquake. One month after the event, 301 participants (118 men, 183 women) completed a questionnaire asking about demographics, family coping, family stresses and strains, social support network, resource loss, and symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD symptoms were associated with being female, family strains, resource loss (especially personal characteristic and energy), and depression. Participants experiencing the earthquake had higher distress levels than those in the control group who did not experience the earthquake. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords:

• disaster stress
• earthquake
• family functioning
• family resources
• natural disaster
• psychological distress
• trauma

This project was supported by a grant from the Natural Hazards Center to David N. Sattler. The author thanks the students and faculty at Pierce College and Grossmont College for participating in the project, Virginia Shabatay for assistance with data collection, Mary Fran Myers and the Natural Hazards Center, and Charles F. Kaiser at the College of Charleston.

Notes

 Notes. There were significant differences for these items:

^a t(1,282) = 41.98, p < .0001.

^b t(1,289) = 8.21, p < .01.

^c t(1,289) = 5.85, p < .05.

^d t(1,282) = 8.83, p < .01.

^e t(1,282) = 8.49, p < .01.

“—” indicates the item was not included in the questionnaire completed by participants in the control group.

Note. R ² are cumulative values: R ² = .07 for step 1, p < .01; ΔR ² = .10 for step 2, p > .05; ΔR ² = .13 for step 3, p = .07; ΔR ² = .16 for step 4, p < .05; ΔR ² = .43 for step 5, p < .0001; ΔR ² = .44 for step 6, p > .05.

∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .01.