New Publication in the American Journal Of Epidemiology

I co-authored an article in the American Journal of Epidemiology entitled “Residential natural hazard risk and mental health effects” led by Dr. Kaitlyn Lawrence. We assessed the potential relationship between multiple mental health outcomes (mood disorders: generalized anxiety disorder [GAD], major depressive disorder [MDD], and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and risk of natural hazards for participants within the Gulf Long-Term Follow-up Study. We linked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Risk Index (NRI) for Natural Hazards to participant residential addresses at home visit. Using adjusted log-binomial regression we observed the highest levels of risk for hurricane and flooding were associated with higher levels of PTSD. We also observed higher levels of heatwave risk was associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. My largest contribution to the study was designing and performing the majority of the data linkages.