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A scoping review of post‐disaster social support investigations conducted after disasters that struck the Australia and Oceania continent
Author(s) -
Kaniasty Krzysztof,
de Terte Ian,
Guilaran Johnrev,
Bennett Simon
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/disa.12390
Subject(s) - social support , disaster research , natural disaster , documentation , suicide prevention , empirical research , poison control , mental health , distress , psychology , environmental health , geography , medicine , social psychology , psychiatry , clinical psychology , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , meteorology , programming language
This scoping review provides a summary of research findings on social support dynamics in the wake of disasters that occurred on the continent of Australia and Oceania between 1983 and 2013. Forty‐one studies, quantitative and qualitative, were summarised, investigating different facets of post‐disaster supportive interactions. All inquiries assessed disasters resulting from natural hazards, with the majority of them conducted following events in Australia and New Zealand. The review revealed similar patterns of post‐disaster social support dynamics that routinely unfold after disastrous incidents all over the world. Consistent with the disaster mental health literature, the documentation of social support mobilisation and social support deterioration processes was common. Salutary direct effects of supportive behaviours on post‐disaster psychological distress were also highly evident. Most studies, however, posed research questions or hypotheses that lacked empirical or theoretical grounding. In conclusion, the review offers several recommendations on how to advance research on post‐disaster social support.