“Bouncing back” after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Abstract
Purpose
The psychological and behavioral consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster were among the most widespread, long term, and costly of all oil spill-related disasters. However, many people were resilient, and understanding the factors associated with resilience in the immediate aftermath of this disaster are needed to guide early interventions. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 133 adults from the Northeast Gulf Coast participated in a study of mental health outcomes during the oil spill and one year later. Participants completed a battery of measures that assessed their basic demographics, income status, perceived environmental risk (i.e. characteristic way people think about and interpret environmental risks), self-reported resilience (i.e. ability to “bounce back” after a disaster), and mental health status.
Findings
Results of univariate analyses indicated similar, elevated levels of mental health problems at both time points; however, environmental risk perception was higher one year post-spill than during the spill. In multivariate analyses, income stability, increased time, higher self-reported resilience, and lower environmental risk perception were associated with better mental health outcomes while age and gender had no association.
Originality/value
Oil spills are protracted disasters, and better mental health outcomes are linked to financial stability, as well as a belief in environmental restoration and one’s own capacity for resilience. Since resilience and environmental worry are potentially modifiable processes, they might be targeted in prevention and early intervention efforts in order to create more robust, prepared individuals in the face of an oil spill disaster.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Support for this project comes from the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences, ES020683. This paper’s contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NIEHS. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and contributions of Franklin’s Promise Coalition and Friendship Baptist Church; Joe Taylor and Lori Switzer from Franklin’s Promise Coalition and Lisa Parks from Friendship Baptist Church. The assistance of Yi Zhang, Eleanor Neijstrom, Lorien Baker, Darla Jones and the Alabama Seafood Association was also greatly appreciated in this project.
Citation
Grattan, L.M., Brumback, B., Roberts, S.M., Buckingham-Howes, S., Toben, A.C. and Morris, G. (2017), "“Bouncing back” after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 122-133. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-09-2016-0195
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited