Abstract
Haiti has experienced many major natural disasters in the past decade that included Hurricane Matthew which led to mass damage to property, a depletion of basic resources, human fatalities and injuries, and mental health consequences that affected the poorest. The current study focused on the psychological effects of Hurricane Matthew on Haitian children and adolescents. Children display heightened depression, and PTSD symptoms in the aftermath of disasters (Hausman et al., Journal of Family Psychology 34:836–845, 2020), however, the researchers anticipated that children living in orphanages would display more severe mental health symptoms than those living with their families, because of their additional stressor of family loss. Using a convenience sample, quantitative data was collected using several instruments, in a survey format, that were individually administered to a sample of 77 adolescents. Participants had high depressive scores and reported multiple adverse events and limited access to basic needs. In comparing subgroups, we found children who were in orphanages reported significantly fewer adverse childhood experiences than those living with their families. This is likely because orphanages in Haiti consistently provide children with a safe and stable environment, buffering them against the traumatic effects of disasters. In contrast, children living with their families reported witnessing or experiencing interpersonal violence, neglect and abuse in addition to disaster-related stress. Before addressing the issues faced by disaster-affected children in Haiti, the systemic issues that maintain the socio-economic deprivation of so many citizens must be addressed. An important step is for policymakers to collaborate with mental health providers to develop community interventions that are low-cost and easily accessible. These interventions must consider and incorporate the social context and cultural patterns of help-seeking and treatment utilization in Haiti.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adkins, T., Reisz, S., Doerge, K., & Nulu, S. (2020). Adverse childhood experience histories in foster parents: Connections to foster children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties. Child Abuse & Neglect, 104, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104475
Ashley, J., Johnson, A., Woldu, H., & Katz, C. L. (2019). Factors contributing to maternal-child separation in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Annals of Global Health, 85(1), 136. https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.2640
Associate Press. (2010, February 9). Haiti Raises Earthquake’s Death Toll to, 230, 000.
Bang, Y. R., Park, J. H., & Kim, S. H. (2015). Cut-off scores of the Children’s Depression Inventory for Screening and Rating Severity in Korean adolescents. Psychiatry Investigation, 12(1), 23–28. https://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2015.12.1.23
Becker, A. E., & Kleinman, A. (2013). Mental health and the global agenda. The New England Journal of Medicine, 369(14), 1380–1381. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc1309899
Bedard-Thomas, K. K., Bujoreanu, S., Choi, C. H., & Ibeziako, P. I. (2018). Perception and impact of life events in medically hospitalized patients with somatic symptom and related disorders. Hospital Pediatrics, 8(11), 699–705. https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2017-0197
Betancourt, T., Scorza, P., Meyers-Ohki, S., Mushashi, C., Kayiteshonga, Y., Binagwaho, A., Stulac, S., & Beardslee, W. R. (2012). Validating the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children in Rwanda. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(12), 1284–1292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2012.09.003
Blake, D. D., Weathers, E. W., Nagy, L. M., Kaloupek, D. G., Gusman, F. D., Charney, D. S., et al. (1995). The development of a clinician administered PTSD scale. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 75–90.
Brooks, N., Neil, A. W., & Mick, K. P. (2005). The determinants of vulnerability and adaptive capacity at the national level and the implications for adaptation. Global Environmental Change, 15, 151–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2004.12.006
Campbell, D. W., Campbell, J. C., Yarandi, H. N., O’Connor, A. L., Dollar, E., Killion, C., Sloand, E., Callwood, G. B., Cesar, N. M., Hassan, M., & Gary, F. (2016). Violence and abuse of internally displaced women survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. International Journal of Public Health, 61(8), 981–992. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0895-8
Casula, M., Rangarajan, N., & Shields, P. (2020). The potential of working hypotheses for deductive exploratory research. Quality & Quantity, 1–23.
Dass-Brailsford, P., Thomley, R. S. H., Talisman, N. W., & Unverferth, K. (2015). Psychological effects of the 2010 Haitian earthquake on children: An exploratory study. Traumatology, 21(1), 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000015
Dyregrov, A., Yule, W., & Olff, M. (2018). Children and natural disasters. European Journal of Psychotraumatology. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2018.1500823
Eustache, E., Gerbasi, M. E., Smith Fawzi, M. C., Reginald, F. A., Severe, J., Raviola, G. J., & Becker, A. E. (2017). High burden of mental illness and low utilization of care among school-going youth in central Haiti: A window into the youth mental health treatment gap in a low-income country. The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 63(3), 261–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764017700174
Elman, C., Gerring, J., & Mahoney, J. (Eds.). (2020). The Production of Knowledge: Enhancing Progress in Social Science. Cambridge University Press.
Farmer, P. (2011). Haiti after the earthquake. Public Affairs Publisher.
Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8
Felix, E., Hernández, L. A., Bravo, M., Ramirez, R., Cabiya, J., & Canino, G. (2011). Natural disaster and risk of psychiatric disorders in Puerto Rican children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 589–600. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9483-1
Ford, J. D., & Courtois, C. A. (Eds.). (2013). Treating complex traumatic stress disorders in children and adolescents: Scientific foundations and therapeutic models. Guilford Press.
Furr, J. M., Comer, J. S., Edmunds, J. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2010). Disasters and youth: A meta-analytic examination of posttraumatic stress. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78, 765–780. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021482
Ghio, L., Gotelli, S., Cervetti, A., Respino, M., Natta, W., Marcenaro, M., & Belvederi Murri, M. (2015). Duration of untreated depression influences clinical outcomes and disability. Journal of Affective Disorders, 175, 224–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.01.014
Glas, H., De Maeyer, P., Merisier, S., & Deruyter, G. (2020). Development of a low-cost methodology for data acquisition and flood risk assessment in the floodplain of the river Moustiques in Haiti. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 13(2), e12608. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12608
Goldmann, E., & Galea, S. (2014). Mental health consequences of disasters. Annual Review of Public Health, 35, 169–169.
Gray, M. J., Litz, B. T., Hsu, J. L., & Lombardo, T. W. (2004). Psychometric properties of the life events checklist. Assessment, 11(4), 330–341. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191104269954
Grolnick, W. S., Schonfeld, D. J., Schreiber, M., Cohen, J., Cole, V., Jaycox, L., Lochman, J., Pfefferbaum, B., Ruggiero, K., Wells, K., Wong, M., & Zatzick, D. (2018). Improving adjustment and resilience in children following a disaster: Addressing research challenges. American Psychologist, 73(3), 215–229. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000181
Gutmann, E. D., Rasmussen, R. M., Liu, C., Ikeda, K., Bruyere, C. L., Done, J. M., Garre, L., Friis-Hansen, P., & Veldore, V. (2018). Changes in Hurricanes from a 13-year convection: Permitting pseudo–global warming simulation. Journal of Climate, 31(9), 3643–3657. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0391.1
Hausman, E. M., Black, S. R., Bromet, E., Carlson, G., Danzig, A., Kotov, R., & Klein, D. N. (2020). Reciprocal Effects of Maternal and Child Internalizing Symptoms Before and After a Natural Disaster. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(7), 836–845. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000653
Hobfoll, S. E., Gaffey, A. E., & Wagner, L. M. (2020). PTSD and the influence of context: The self as a social mirror. Journal of Personality, 88(1), 76–87. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12439
Kain, G., Hunt, R., Noto, J., Prine, J., Brown, C., & Compere, M. (2017, October). Off-grid solar powered water purification and community development in Haiti's Artibonite valley, the heart of Haiti's cholera epidemic. In 2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (pp. 1–11). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC.2017.8239344
Kaplow, J. B., Rolon-Arroyo, B., Layne, C. M., Rooney, E., Oosterhoff, B., Hill, R., & Pynoos, R. S. (2020). Validation of the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for DSM-5: A developmentally informed assessment tool for youth. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(1), 186–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.10.019
Kovács-Tóth, B., Oláh, B., Papp, G., & Szabó, I. K. (2021). Assessing adverse childhood experiences, social, emotional, and behavioral symptoms, and subjective health complaints among Hungarian adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 15(1), 12–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-021-00365-7
Lai, B. S. L. A., Greca, A. M., Auslander, B. A., & Short, M. B. (2013). Children’s symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression after a natural disaster: Comorbidity and risk factors. Journal of Affective Disorders, 146, 71–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.08.041
Lowe, S. R., Godoy, L., Rhodes, J. E., & Carter, A. S. (2013). Predictingmothers’ reports of children’s mental health three years after Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 34, 17–27.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2012.09.00
Makriyianis, H. M., Adams, E. A., Lozano, L. L., Mooney, T. A., Morton, C., & Liss, M. (2019). Psychological inflexibility mediates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and mental health outcomes. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 14, 82–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.09.007
Marcelin, L. H., Cela, T., & Shultz, J. M. (2016). Haiti and the politics of governance and community responses to Hurricane Matthew. Disaster Health, 3(4), 151–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/21665044.2016.1263539
Maslow, A. H. (1987). Motivation and personality (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
Merrick, M. T., Ports, K. A., Ford, D. C., Afifi, T. O., Gershoff, E. T., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2017). Unpacking the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adult mental health. Child Abuse & Neglect, 69, 10.
Muller, B., Munslow, B., & O’Dempsey, T. (2017). When community reintegration is not the best option: Interethnic violence and the trauma of parental loss in South Sudan. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 32(1), 91–109. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.2311
Nicolas, G., Jean-Jacques, R., & Wheatley, A. (2012). Mental health counseling in Haiti: Historical overview, current status, and plans for the future. Journal of Black Psychology, 38(4), 509–519. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798412443162
Patton, G. C., Coffey, C., Romaniuk, H., Mackinnon, A., Carlin, J. B., Degenhardt, L., Olsson, C. A., & Moran, P. (2014). The prognosis of common mental disorders in adolescents: A 14-year prospective cohort study. Lancet (london, England), 383(9926), 1404–1411. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62116-9
Pfefferbaum, B., Jacobs, A., Griffin, N., & Houston, J. B. (2015). Children’s disaster reactions: The influence of exposure and personal characteristics. Current Psychiatry Reports, 17(7), Article 56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-015-0598-
Pugach, C. P., Nomamiukor, F. O., Gay, N. G., & Wisco, B. E. (2021). Temporal stability of self-reported trauma exposure on the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 34(1), 248–256. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22611
Roysircar, G., Geisinger, K., & Thompson, A. (2019a). Haitian children’s disaster trauma: Validation of pictoral assessment of resilience and vulnerability. Journal of Black Psychology, 45(4), 269–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798419838126
Roysircar, G., Thompson, A., & Geisinger, K. (2019b). Trauma coping of mothers and children among poor people in Haiti: Mixed methods study of community-level research. American Psychologist, 74(9), 1189–1206. https://doi.org/10.1039/amp0000542
Rubens, S. L., Felix, E. D., & Hambrick, E. P. (2018). A meta-analysis of the impact of natural disasters on internalizing and externalizing problems in youth. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 31(3), 332–341. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22292
Schonfeld, D. J., & Demaria, T. (2015). Providing psychosocial support to children and families in the aftermath of disaster and crisis. Pediatrics, 136, e1120–e1130. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-2861
Shibuya, T., & Taylor, V. (2013). Alternative care options and policy choices to support orphans: The case of Mozambique in the context of the SADC. International Social Security Review, 66(1), 71–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/issr.12003
Simmons, K. T., & Douglas, D. Y. (2018). After the storm: Helping children cope with trauma after natural disasters. Communiqué, 46(5), 23–25.
Steinberg, A. M., Brymer, M. J., Kim, S., Briggs, E. C., Ippen, C. G., Ostrowski, S. A., & Pynoos, R. S. (2013). Psychometric properties of the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index: Part I. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21780
Stewart, S. R. (2017, April 7). National Hurricane Center tropical cyclone report: Hurricane Matthew. National Hurricane Center. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL142016_Matthew.pdf
Tang, W., Zhao, J., Lu, Y., Yan, T., Wang, L., Zhang, J., & Xu, J. (2017). Mental health problems among children and adolescents experiencing two major earthquakes in remote mountainous regions: A longitudinal study. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 72, 66–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.09.004
Thabrew, H., Stasiak, K., Bavin, L. M., Frampton, C., & Merry, S. (2018). Validation of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) and Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) in New Zealand help-seeking adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 27(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.1610
Thornicroft, G., Evans-Lacko, S., Gruber, M., Sampson, N., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Al-Hamzawi, A., & Kessler, R. C. (2017). Undertreatment of people with major depressive disorder in 21 countries. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 210(2), 119–124. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.116.188078
Weine, S. M., Arënliu, A., Görmez, V., Lagenecker, S., & Demirtas, H. (2021). Conducting research on building psychosocial support for Syrian refugee families in a humanitarian emergency. Conflict and Health, 15(1), 31–31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-021-00365-6
Weissman, M. M., Orvaschel, H., & Padian, N. (1980). Children’s symptom and social functioning self report scales: Comparison of mothers’ and children’s reports. Journal of Nervous Mental Disorders, 168(12), 736–740.
World Bank. (2014). Investing in people to fight poverty in Haiti. Retrieved from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/222901468029372321/pdf/944300v10REPLA0sment0EN0web0version.pdf
World Bank. (2018). The World Bank in Haiti. Retrieved from http://www.world--bank.org/en/country/haiti/overview
World Bank. (2020, October 20). Overview. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/haiti/overview
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This paper is a product of original research and has not been submitted to any other journals for consideration during this peer review process. This research has Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dass-Brailsford, P., Thomley, R.S.H., Jain, D. et al. The Mental Health Consequences of Hurricane Matthew on Haitian Children and Youth: An Exploratory Study. Journ Child Adol Trauma 15, 899–909 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-021-00413-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-021-00413-6