We don't know why. The answer to this promises far-reaching benefits. This Quick Response application proposes to study subjects already involved in research where relevant data concerning pre-disaster characteristics or functioning are available, when they are affected by a natural disaster. Additionally, post-disaster repeated measures will be taken and analyzed to clarify whether previously observed group differences on similar variables predict or result from exposure to traumatic events. Studies lacking data prior to the traumatic event cannot distinguish causes from effects.
Studies using variable traumas have difficulty comparing varied results across subjects.
This proposal seeks to overcome these two methodological flaws by selecting participants already involved in research studies where pertinent data were collected prior to a natural disaster. Selecting a discrete natural disaster standardizes the precipitating traumatic event in objectively measurable ways. Examining the relationship between individual variations in disaster response with baseline and repeated post-disaster measures can yield potentially important clues about differential susceptibility to PTSD, and may uncover the causal nature of some previously observed group differences on similar variables. Thus, these results can have direct implications for applied clinical interventions and public health risk-reduction efforts. A large scale, natural disaster, directly affecting a large metropolitan area within the United States.