Krzysztof Kaniasty

TL;DR: Within adult samples, more severe exposure, female gender, middle age, ethnic minority status, secondary stressors, prior psychiatric problems, and weak or deteriorating psychosocial resources most consistently increased the likelihood of adverse outcomes.

TL;DR: It is argued that when researchers focus on only the most scientifically sound research--studies that use prospective designs or include multivariate analyses of predictor and outcome measures--relatively clear conclusions about the psychological parameters of disasters emerge, and that social relationships can improve after disasters, especially within the immediate family.

TL;DR: Perceived support mediated the long-term effects on distress of both scope of disaster exposure and postdisaster received support, and theoretical and application issues of social support are discussed.

TL;DR: Examination of stress-mediating potentials of 3 types of social support found declines in social embeddedness and nonkin support mediated the immediate and delayed impact of disaster stress, and found no evidence for the mediational role of kin support.

TL;DR: The authors examined social causation and social selection explanations for the association between perceptions of social support and psychological distress in Mexico, finding that social selection accounted for the support-to-distress relationship at 18 to 24 months after the event.