# University Students’ Psychological Adjustment After Disasters: Investigating the Role of Post-Disaster Stressors, Sense of Community, Social Support Exchanges, and Shifts in Worldviews

## TL;DR

This study explores how university students adjust psychologically after disasters, focusing on stressors, community support, and changes in beliefs.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific risk and protective factors influencing mental health outcomes in university students post-disaster.

## Key findings

- Younger age is a risk factor for depression and anxiety after disasters.
- A stronger sense of an altruistic community is linked to lower mental health symptoms.
- Positive changes in worldviews correlate with reduced posttraumatic stress and depression.

## Abstract

This multi-university, multi-disaster study examined associations among prior trauma exposure, disaster exposure, and post-disaster life stressors with mental health outcomes, as well as the potential protective roles of a perceived altruistic community, post-disaster social support exchanges, and changes in world beliefs. University students in disaster-affected areas of the mainland United States and Puerto Rico (N = 666; 77.5% female; M age = 21.26) completed an online survey assessing disaster exposure, post-disaster life stressors, perceptions of community unity, social support exchanges, post-disaster changes in world beliefs, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTSS), depression, and anxiety. Younger age emerged as a risk factor for depression and anxiety, and Black participants reported higher PTSS than White participants. Greater lifetime trauma exposure, experiencing the hurricanes in Puerto Rico or the California wildfires (compared to mainland hurricanes), and reporting more post-disaster life stressors were each associated with elevated PTSS, depression, and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, a stronger sense of an altruistic community was associated with lower levels of these symptoms. More positive post-disaster changes in beliefs about the world were related to lower PTSS and depression, whereas greater involvement in social support exchanges was associated with higher PTSS. Findings underscore the importance of identifying both risk and protective factors that shape young adults’ post-disaster adjustment.