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Predictors of Individual Resilience Characteristics Among Individuals Ages 65 and Older in Post-Disaster Settings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2018

Jessica Liddell  and
Regardt J. Ferreira
Jessica Liddell*
Affiliation:
City, Culture and Community PhD Program, School of Social Work, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Regardt J. Ferreira
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Ms Jessica Liddell, School of Social Work, Tulane University, 127 Elk Place, New Orleans, LA 70112-2627 (e-mail: jliddell@tulane.edu).
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Abstract

Objective

Literature explores which factors most impact resilience and how these factors impact an individual and communities’ ability to cope with disaster. Less research has focused on how age impacts resilience. This research adapts several previous conceptual models used to investigate resilience. To investigate the unique vulnerabilities faced by older individuals in post-disaster settings, this analysis was undertaken to investigate predictors of individual resilience.

Methods

Data for the study were derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Gulf States Population Survey (GSPS). The final sample included 5,713 adult residents from 4 gulf-coast states. Multiple linear regression was used for the analysis.

Results

All models (demographic, health, social, and combined) acted as significant predictors of individual resilience. Health and social resilience models accounted for more of the variance in resilience scores. In all models, age was negatively associated with resilience scores. Being female was protective across all models. The results of the model testing indicate inequitable disaster mitigation, with social and health indicators explaining the most variance in the resilience levels.

Conclusion

This research provides practitioners with the knowledge they need to focus their interventions on the areas where it is most needed to empower resilient individuals. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:256–264)

Keywords

disastersgenderolder adultsresiliencetechnological disaster
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 256 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2018 

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