Existing scientific literature indicates that experiencing a disaster is associated with increased risk for mental health problems including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the lack of pre-disaster data means little was known regarding how pre-existing factors influence post-disaster mental health.

Regina Musicaro, Ph.D., and colleagues recently analyzed mental and physical health data collected on 361 high-risk adults in Puerto Rico before and after they experienced Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. All participants were “high-risk” individuals who had met criteria for being overweight or obese and had various other health problems. A pre-disaster depression diagnosis, and having more pre-disaster physical health problems, were both associated with higher post-disaster depression symptoms, but not with post-disaster PTSD symptoms. The absence of an association between pre-disaster problems and post-disaster PTSD may indicate that pre-disaster health conditions do not make people as vulnerable to post-disaster outcomes as had been thought. The findings were published online on February 6 in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 

Dr. Musicaro is an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Einstein.