Resilience and Vulnerability to the Psychological Harm From Flooding: The Role of Social Cohesion
Open accessAbstract
Objectives We examined the role of social cohesion as a component of vulnerability and resilience to the psychological distress of flooding. Methods A survey collected data from 2238 individuals living in flood-affected areas of England (South Yorkshire and Worcestershire) in 2007. We used Bayesian structural equation modeling to assess factors relating to the latent variables of resilience (years in area, family nearby, and social cohesion) and vulnerability (disruption of essential services, flood risk, and previous flood experience). Results Flooding was strongly associated with poor mental health; however, resilience factors (associated with the ability to cope with natural disasters), but not vulnerability, were strongly associated with a reduction in psychological distress. Conclusions Resilience and social cohesion were important influences on the risk of developing poor mental health following flooding. Increasing resilience of communities by strengthening social cohesion through measures that increase civic participation and changing land use should be considered as potentially inexpensive and effective defenses against avoidable mental harm that will result from increased climate instability.
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When exposed to stressful events, only a subgroup of individuals develops major depression.
“When exposed to stressful events, only a subgroup of individuals develops major depression.192–195”
From Epigenetic regulation in major depression and other stress-related disorders: molecular mechanisms, clinical relevance and therapeutic potential (2023) · cites this paper as [195]
Researchers tend to conceptualize mental health solely as mental illness and mental problems, administering surveys using validated instruments that assess mental health problems such as generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, and psychological distress following an extreme weather event.
“Researchers tend to conceptualize mental health solely as mental illness and mental problems, administering surveys using validated instruments that assess mental health problems and issues like: generalized anxiety disorder (using the general anxiety disorder, GAD-2 questionnaire), PTSD (PCL-6 checklist), and psychological distress (via the general health questionnaire, GHQ-12) following an ext”
From Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions (2018) · cites this paper as [66]
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The health effects of flooding: social research results from England and Wales
Tunstall, S., Tapsell, S., Green, C., Floyd, P., & George, C. (2006) · Journal of Water and Health · doi:10.2166/wh.2006.031 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
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Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions
Hayes, K., Blashki, G., Wiseman, J., Burke, S., & Reifels, L. (2018) · International Journal of Mental Health Systems · doi:10.1186/s13033-018-0210-6 · Cited by 746 · see citing works
Yuan, M., Yang, B., Rothschild, G., Mann, J. J., Sanford, L. D., Tang, X., Huang, C., Wang, C., & Zhang, W. (2023) · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy · doi:10.1038/s41392-023-01519-z · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Cruz, J., White, P. C. L., Bell, A., & Coventry, P. A. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17228581 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
Silveira, S., Hecht, M., Matthaeus, H., Adli, M., Voelkle, M. C., & Singer, T. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19063290 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
- Authors
- Greene, G., Paranjothy, S., & Palmer, S. R.
- Affiliations
- Cardiff University (GB)
- Venue
- American Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- American Public Health Association
- Published
- 2015-09
- Volume
- 105
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1792-1795
- ISSN
- 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-0048
- PMC
- PMC4539833
- OpenAlex
- W1778376170
- Cited by
- 84
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6
- FWCI
- 13.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical Research Council (MR/K006525/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Disaster Management and Resilience
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- floods, psychological distress, resilience, social cohesion, vulnerability, mental health, natural disasters, flood-affected communities, citizen participation, land use, climate change
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Bayes Theorem, Mental Disorders, England, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Support, Stress, Psychological, Resilience, Psychological, Floods
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