Kate Flory, Ph.D. - US grants

Many individuals who lived through Hurricane Katrina experienced extreme levels of negative emotions (e.g., sadness, anger, anxiety) in the short-term, and some of these individuals will continue to experience these emotions in the long-term as well. However, not every individual from the affected areas will experience the same initial levels and course of emotions over time, and not every individual will cope with the disaster in the same way. This study will examine both psychological/behavioral resiliencies (e.g., sense of control, social support, coping, hope, personality) and molecular genetics influences (i.e., neurotransmitter systems, such as serotonin, that are known to influence emotions) that may affect the unfolding of emotional responses after experiencing the stress from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. As such, this study is poised to advance basic knowledge on fundamental "Nature-Nurture" questions and to explicate how bio-behavioral factors influence emotion regulation. In this study, the researchers will recruit and follow Hurricane Katrina survivors, now living in Columbia, SC, and community members who did not go through the Hurricane, to examine changes in basic emotions over time. Participants will be assessed at baseline for levels of negative and positive emotions, recent positive and negative events, and individual resiliencies; and genetic material will be collected and assayed. Following this initial assessment, individuals will report weekly for 3 months on levels of basic emotions as well as positive and negative events. Based on this multi-wave study, the researchers hope to understand how genetic and psychosocial factors influence trajectories of positive and negative emotions, and how evacuees are coping with the stress and aftermath from Katrina.

Results from this study have important implications for educating the broader society about how substantial, uncontrollable natural disasters affect emotional experience over time and how individuals' genetic and psychological factors operate and interact to regulate emotions. Disseminated widely, such information should be of immediate interest given society's desire for understanding how Hurricane Katrina survivors will cope, as well as the society's innate and enduring interest in learning more about "Nature-Nurture" issues.