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Natural Disasters: An Assessment of Family Resiliency Following Hurricane Katrina
Author(s) -
Hackbarth Maria,
Pavkov Thomas,
Wetchler Joseph,
Flannery Michael
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2011.00227.x
Subject(s) - coping (psychology) , natural disaster , psychology , spirituality , hurricane katrina , hardiness (plants) , clinical psychology , medicine , geography , alternative medicine , pathology , meteorology , horticulture , cultivar , biology
This study explored the role of family characteristics in the coping process of a family after having experienced Hurricane Katrina to gain an understanding of the relationship between family resiliency, hope, family hardiness, and spirituality for survivors of this natural disaster. It was hypothesized that families who demonstrate higher levels of hope, family hardiness, and spirituality would be more likely to effectively cope after the storm. Further, great resource loss was hypothesized to diminish a family’s ability to cope. Four hundred fifty‐two participants completed the survey. Results indicate a relationship between hope, family hardiness and spirituality, and the criterion variable, family coping. The importance of these findings in terms of exploring family resiliency following a natural disaster is discussed.