The Psychological Effects of Hurricane Katrina on

College Students from New Orleans and Southeastern

Louisiana

Barbara J. ShwalbDavid W. Shwalb

Psychology DepartmentSoutheastern Louisiana University

University of Michigan Depression Center Depression on College Campuses Conference

March 22, 2006 (Ann Arbor)

Southeastern Louisiana University Students

Southeastern Louisiana University, a.k.a.

“Southeastern” and “SLU” (www.selu.edu) Over 15,000 students Located in Hammond, 55 miles from

New Orleans Most students commuters

Hammond and Surrounding Area

CalendarSUN      MON     TUES 

    WED    THU     FRI  SAT 

           

23 AUG.  22   23   24   25   26   27 

         

                     

             

 28   29   30   31   1SEPT.  2   3 

    KATRINA      

                   

             

 4   5   6   7   8   9   10              

                         

Katrina Approaches (8/28/05)

Displaced Students

Following August 29, 2005: 1,300 Southeastern students withdraw 1,400 “guest students” from New

Orleans enroll at Southeastern for Fall Semester

On-Line SurveyOn-Line Questionnaire November 1-23, 2005E-mailed survey link to: About 1,000 displaced New Orleans “guest”

students at Southeastern Random sample of about 2,000 regular

Southeastern studentsApproximately 35% return rate (“refusal rate”

under 5%); Many addressees never received the survey e-mail

Home Universities of Displaced Students in

Survey SampleSchool Enrolled before Katrina

Other

Xavier

Tulane

Southern

Loyola

Dillard

Delgado

UNO

Home Universities of Displaced Students

Sample Demographics

 

Regular

Southeastern Students(n = 646)

DisplacedStudents(n = 403)

Females 78.6% 65.2%

Males 21.4% 34.8%

Asian/Pacific Islander 0.2% 1.7%

Black, Non-Hispanic 10.0% 20.0%

Hispanic 2.6% 5.5%

White, Non-Hispanic 85.3% 69.7%

Freshmen 20.4% 29.4%

Sophomore 17.6% 25.0%

Junior 18.2% 21.5%

Senior 27.1% 17.1%

Graduate Student 16.4% 6.0%

Average Age 25.5 23.3

Independent Variables Perception of local storm damage

and hurricane intensity Perception of fear and danger at time

of hurricane Experience of evacuating in/out of

state vs. not evacuating Displaced students vs. regular

Southeastern students

Katrina Approaches (8/28/05)

Experience of Hurricane: Group Comparisons

SLU (n = 644)

Displaced (n = 379) Effect

Severity of Katrina damage

5.44 6.01 p<.001

Intensity of storm 5.46 5.21 NS

Fear 5.31 5.70 p < .05

Safety 4.30 4.05 NS

Independent Variables Perception of local storm damage

and hurricane intensity Perception of fear and danger at time

of hurricane Experience of evacuating in/out of

state vs. not evacuating Displaced students vs. regular

Southeastern students

Hammond and Surrounding Area

Evacuation ExperienceSLU Students(n = 644)

Displaced Students (n=379)

I never evacuated

47% 13%

I evacuated before Katrina

42% 75%

I tried before Katrina but couldn’t get out

4% 6%

I evacuated after Katrina

8% 9%

Who Did You Evacuate With?

SLU Students Displaced Students

Family 35% 34%

Spouse or boy/girlfriend

17% 22%

Friends 12% 19%

Strangers 1% 2%

Extended family 9% 17%

Who Were You With When Katrina Struck?

SLU Students(n = 644)

Displaced Students (n=379)

Family 43% 50%

Boy/girlfriend 32% 26%

Friends 24% 24%

Independent Variables Perception of local storm damage

and hurricane intensity Perception of fear and danger at time

of hurricane Experience of evacuating in/out of

state vs. not evacuating Displaced students vs. regular

Southeastern students

Home Universities

Losses & Physical EffectsDisplacedStudents

Regular Students

Item

Personally injured by the hurricane 5% 3%

Damage to their places of residence 43% 28%

Close friends or relations were missing 28% 24%

Knew family members or friends who’d died 14% 8%

Lost home 44% 9%

Lost job 53% 13%

Lost automobile 23% 5%

Lost money 75% 65%

General decline in health 22% 15%

Poorer eating habits 33% 23%

Various Effects of TraumaDisplacedStudents

Regular Students

Item

Felt stressed out 88% 68%

Sleep difficulties 51% 38%

Nervous/anxious 47% 32%

Depressed 53% 35%

Religion and faith important to coping 58% 70%

Increase in prayerfulness 32% 34%

Negative effects on academic performance 55% 53%

Decrease in motivation to study/achieve 49% 51%

Withdrew from classes since September 37% 22%

Increased worry about financing education 66% 37%

Dependent Variables (Quantitative)

Impact of Events Scale – IES Reports of physical/illness symptoms (DSM) General Health Questionnaire Optimism/Pessimism Scale Life Satisfaction Scale Personal Growth Inventory Perceived Academic Impact

(Motivation/Performance)

Impact of Events Scale: Intrusion Thought Items

1. Reminders of Katrina upsetting

2. Repeated and disturbing memories

3. Hearing about similar storms

4. Sleep problems

5. Events of Katrina controlled thoughts

6. Strong feelings about Katrina “washed over me”

Group Differences: Intrusion Thought Index

Significant Group Differences Between...

Storm Intensity: Low vs. High – Yes

Damage Severity: Low vs. High – Yes

Fear Level: Low vs. High – Yes

Feelings of Danger: Low vs. High – Yes

SLU vs. Displaced Students - Yes

Percentages of Moderate & Severe Intrusion Thought

(SLU n = 326;Displaced n = 562) Moderate Severe

Displaced SLU Displaced SLU

Reminded 39% 31% 25% 14%Repeated 21% 15% 13% 7%Hearing 23% 27% 42% 42%Sleep 23% 18% 28% 20%Thoughts controlled

19% 13% 10% 7%

Feelings “washed”

23% 16% 11% 6%

Total % with Pronounced Intrusion Thought

Displaced (n = 326)

SLU (n = 562)

Reminded 64% 45%

Repeated 34% 22%

Hearing 65% 69%

Sleep 51% 38%

Thoughts controlled 29% 20%

Washed over 34% 22%

Impact of Events Scale: Avoidance Items

1. Stop myself from getting upset

2. Try to remove; it never happened

3. Felt it wasn’t real; hadn’t happened

4. Try not to talk

5. Not upset, but numb

6. Many feelings that I don’t know how to handle

Group Differences: IES Avoidance Index

Significant Group Differences Between...

Storm Intensity: Low vs. High – Yes

Damage Severity: Low vs. High – Yes

Fear Level: Low vs. High – Yes

Feelings of Danger: Low vs. High – Yes

SLU vs. Displaced Students - Yes

Percentages of Moderate and Severe Avoidance

(SLU n = 326;Displaced student n = 551) Moderate Severe

Displaced SLU Displaced SLU

Stop 27% 17% 8% 5%Never happened

18% 13% 15% 8%

Not real 20% 22% 18% 11%No talk 20% 15% 17% 12%Numbed 25% 19% 11% 7%Don’t know 18% 11% 13% 6%

Total Percentages with Pronounced Avoidance

Displaced (n = 326)

SLU (n = 551)

Stop 35% 22%

Never happened 33% 21%

Not real 38% 33%

No talk 37% 27%

Numb 36% 26%

Don’t know 31% 17%

Impact of Events Scale: Summary of Findings

Intrusion thoughts about Katrina in more than 50% of displaced students 1 in 3 of SLU studentsAvoidance of Katrina-related feelings/thoughts 1 in 3 of displaced students 1 in 4 of SLU studentsReminder of Katrina is upsetting: 55% of totalHearing similar event upsetting: 70% of totalSleep disturbances: 45% of total sample

Dependent Variables (Quantitative)

Impact of Events Scale – IES Reports of physical/illness symptoms (DSM) General Health Questionnaire Optimism/Pessimism Scale Life Satisfaction Scale Personal Growth Inventory Perceived Academic Impact

(Motivation/Performance)

Katrina & Depression

Katrina & PTSDKatrina & PTSD

StressStress

PPhysical-CCognitive-EEmotional-BBehavioral

Depression: Signs and SymptomsDepression: Signs and Symptoms

•PPhysical

•CCognitive

•EEmotional

•BBehavioral

Dependent Variables(Qualitative)

Open-ended questions1. What is your Katrina story?

2. What has most impacted you about your Katrina experience?

3. What can be done to help you? Loss Issues

Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? I miss it both night and day I know that it's wrong... this feeling's gettin' stronger The longer, I stay away Miss them moss covered vines...the tall sugar pines Where mockin' birds used to sing And I'd like to see that lazy Mississippi...hurryin' into spring The moonlight on the bayou, a Creole tune that fills the air I dream of Magnolias in bloom and soon I'm wishin‘ that you were there Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans And that's where I left my heart And there's something more...I miss the one I care for More than I miss New Orleans Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans…

Laughter: The Best Medicine

Humor and Coping

From the Late Night Comics

"Mardi Gras starts tomorrow in New Orleans. Talk about perfect timing. Those truckloads of ice from FEMA just showed up." ---Bill Maher

"The first baby has been born in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Yeah, they named it FEMA, because it finally showed up after nine months." ---Jay Leno

AcknowledgementsSoutheastern Louisiana University (for support) Department of Psychology Office of Institutional Research & Assessment Center for Faculty Excellence Drs. Alvin Burstein, Tom DeVaney, Michelle Hall, Molly

McGraw, Kara Faust; Ms. Maria PattMississippi State University (for instrumentation) Social Science Research Center Drs. Duane Gill, Anthony Ladd (Loyola - New Orleans),

John Marszalek (Xavier - Louisiana); Ms. Angela Maggard Palomar College and John Wiley & Sons (for slide images) Dr. Karen Huffman & Ms. Dayna Leaman Bordelon

Direct Correspondence to:

barbara.shwalb@selu.edu dshwalb@selu.edu

Southeastern Louisiana University

Psychology Department, SLU 10831

Hammond, LA 70402