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Weathering the storm

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TitleInfo
Title
Weathering the storm
SubTitle
the long-term consequences of Hurricane Katrina on mental health, mobility and recovery
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Merdjanoff
NamePart (type = given)
Alexis Ann
NamePart (type = date)
1983-
DisplayForm
Alexis Ann Merdjanoff
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
author
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Krivo
NamePart (type = given)
Lauren J
DisplayForm
Lauren J Krivo
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
chair
Name (type = corporate)
NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
Name (type = corporate)
NamePart
Graduate School - New Brunswick
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
school
TypeOfResource
Text
Genre (authority = marcgt)
theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact)
2015
DateOther (qualifier = exact); (type = degree)
2015-10
CopyrightDate (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact)
2015
Place
PlaceTerm (type = code)
xx
Language
LanguageTerm (authority = ISO639-2b); (type = code)
eng
Abstract (type = abstract)
This dissertation uses the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health (G-CAFH) Study to examine the long-term mental health patterns of individuals highly affected by Hurricane Katrina, and establish trajectories of mental health recovery. To do so, I use a multidimensional perspective to identify the mechanisms that illustrate why mental health recovery is often an unequal process for disaster survivors. I examine sociodemographic, household, and social frameworks to tell a comprehensive story of mental health recovery and how it is connected to mobility. In the first analysis, I consider how mobility rates differ depending on various social characteristics, and how such relationships can reproduce and reinforce inequalities during the recovery process. These analyses also consider how different rates of mobility are associated with the likelihood of vulnerable populations experiencing mental health distress. Results demonstrate that disasters often work to sustain inequalities that existed prior to the event and that mental health distress is tied to high rates of mobility. In the second analysis, I consider how the addition or subtraction of household members can affect an adult respondent’s mental health and how household instability might mitigate or exacerbate the negative mental health effects of disasters. Results from these analyses suggest that respondents experienced high rates of mobility coupled with household instability in the four years following Katrina. Somewhat surprisingly, there is a significant negative effect on mental health for living in a household that expanded but not for when a household contracted. In the third and final analysis, I examine the relationship between perceived social support and mental health using different types and levels of social support. Results suggest that emotional support—rather than instrumental—provides the greatest positive influence on mental health over the course of recovery. Most importantly, these findings suggest that perceived social support mediates the effect of mobility on mental health distress. Lastly, I conclude with a discussion about mental health trajectories following disasters and argue that mental health recovery patterns can be categorized in three ways, including resilient mental health, stalled mental health, and downward mental health.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Sociology
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Mental health
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_6744
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (vii, 151 p. : ill.)
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Alexis Ann Merdjanoff
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore19991600001
Location
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NjNbRU
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3P84DW6
Genre (authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights

RightsDeclaration (ID = rulibRdec0006)
The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder (type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
Merdjanoff
GivenName
Alexis
MiddleName
Ann
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact); (point = start)
2015-09-17 16:25:34
AssociatedEntity
Name
Alexis Merdjanoff
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
RightsEvent
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact); (point = start)
2015-10-31
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact); (point = end)
2016-10-30
Type
Embargo
Detail
Access to this PDF has been restricted at the author's request. It will be publicly available after October 30th, 2016.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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Technical

RULTechMD (ID = TECHNICAL1)
ContentModel
ETD
OperatingSystem (VERSION = 5.1)
windows xp
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