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Child / Adolescent - Trauma / Maltreatment

(PS4-C66) Parental Accommodations and Child Outcomes in the Aftermath of Hurricane Harvey

Friday, November 17, 2023
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PST
Location: Regency Ballroom, Level 7
Natural disasters are occurring more frequently, and their intensity and consequent damage have grown in severity (Banholszer et al., 2014; Kousky 2016; Misuri et al., 2019).  Further, in 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in the Houston/Galveston gulf coast region and affected nearly 13 million individuals with its unprecedented flooding (Shultz & Galea, 2017). Overall, natural disasters have a lasting impact on the mental health of the children.  The effects on children's mental health included  post traumatic stress symptoms, behavioral problems (e.g., disruptive behaviors), depression, and anxiety (Kousky, 2016; Weems & Overstreet, 2008).  Overall, parents have been an important factors in the lasting effects of natural disasters on children's mental health. Although most research has examined overall parental mental health outcomes on childhood outcomes, little research has concentrated on specific parental behaviors that might help children deal with natural disasters.  One of those behaviors may be the level of parental accommodations. Considering parental accommodations are often used in when a child is upset or distressed (Thompson-Hollands et al., 2014), it seems feasible that parental accommodations may also be associated with childhood outcomes after a natural disaster. This study examines the use of parental accommodations in the context of Hurricane Harvey, and the associated effects on child outcomes. The current study was part of a larger study collecting data on the effects on mental health following a natural disaster. Participants (N = 130) who were parents, completed an online survey answering questions on their Hurricane Harvey experiences as well as shared about their parenting practices and their perception of their children’s outcomes both during and after this time. An analysis evaluating a correlation indicated that the use of parental accommodations was correlated with child variables. A regression analysis further indicated that increases in parental accommodations were associated with higher child conduct problems (β = 1.0, SE = 0.39, t = 2.70, p = .025), higher childhood distress (β = .29, SE = 0.37, t = 2.77, p = .007), and overall emotional issues (β = .22, SE = 0.11, t = 2.00, p = .05).  Overall, parental accommodations were associated with more negative mental health outcomes for children, after a natural disaster.   Given these results, it is important that professionals help parents understand how to be supportive of their children during or immediately following a natural disaster, without being overly accommodating to their child's anxiety.