Mental health, substance use, and adaptive coping among social work students in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2010

Abstract

The current study examined mental health symptomology, substance use, and adaptive coping among 416 social work students following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Among participants, 47% scored at or above the clinical level for depression, with 6% of students showing clinical PTSD-like symptoms, and 16.9% reporting substance use. Two thirds (66.9%) employed 8 of the 10 adaptive coping responses. Negative cognitive and emotional reactions to the hurricanes correlated positively with mental health symptomology and 7 of the 10 adaptive coping responses. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, it is critical to provide students with education, information, and close supervision to address issues around impairment and vulnerability and to maximize resilience. © 2010, Council on Social Work Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Journal of Social Work Education

First Page

391

Last Page

410

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