IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i4p1487-d493432.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Chronic Mental Health Sequelae of Climate Change Extremes: A Case Study of the Deadliest Californian Wildfire

Author

Listed:
  • Sarita Silveira

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
    Neural Engineering and Translation Labs, University of California, San Diego, CA 92037, USA)

  • Mariah Kornbluh

    (Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA)

  • Mathew C. Withers

    (Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico, CA 95929, USA)

  • Gillian Grennan

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
    Neural Engineering and Translation Labs, University of California, San Diego, CA 92037, USA)

  • Veerabhadran Ramanathan

    (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA 92037, USA)

  • Jyoti Mishra

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
    Neural Engineering and Translation Labs, University of California, San Diego, CA 92037, USA)

Abstract

Introduction. Weather-related disasters, such as wildfires exacerbated by a rise in global temperatures, need to be better studied in terms of their mental health impacts. This study focuses on the mental health sequelae of the deadliest wildfire in California to date, the Camp Fire of 2018. Methods. We investigated a sample of 725 California residents with different degrees of disaster exposure and measured mental health using clinically validated scales for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Data were collected at a chronic time-point, six months post-wildfire. We used multiple regression analyses to predict the mental health outcomes based on self-reported fire exposure. Additionally, we included vulnerability and resilience factors in hierarchical regression analyses. Results. Our primary finding is that direct exposure to large scale fires significantly increased the risk for mental health disorders, particularly for PTSD and depression. Additionally, the inclusion of vulnerability and resilience factors in the hierarchical regression analyses led to the significantly improved prediction of all mental health outcomes. Childhood trauma and sleep disturbances exacerbated mental health symptoms. Notably, self-reported resilience had a positive effect on mental health, and mindfulness was associated with significantly lower depression and anxiety symptoms. Conclusion. Overall, our study demonstrated that climate-related extreme events, such as wildfires, can have severe mental illness sequelae. Moreover, we found that pre-existing stressful life events, resilient personality traits and lifestyle factors can play an important role in the prevalence of psychopathology after such disasters. Unchecked climate change projected for the latter half of this century may severely impact the mental wellbeing of the global population, and we must find ways to foster individual resiliency.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarita Silveira & Mariah Kornbluh & Mathew C. Withers & Gillian Grennan & Veerabhadran Ramanathan & Jyoti Mishra, 2021. "Chronic Mental Health Sequelae of Climate Change Extremes: A Case Study of the Deadliest Californian Wildfire," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-15, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1487-:d:493432
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1487/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1487/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brock Boudreau & Christiane Poulin, 2009. "An examination of the validity of the Family Affluence Scale II (FAS II) in a general adolescent population of Canada," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 29-42, October.
    2. Helen Berry & Kathryn Bowen & Tord Kjellstrom, 2010. "Climate change and mental health: a causal pathways framework," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(2), pages 123-132, April.
    3. Wamsler, Christine & Brink, Ebba, 2018. "Mindsets for Sustainability: Exploring the Link Between Mindfulness and Sustainable Climate Adaptation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 55-61.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wanying Mao & Medard Adu & Ejemai Eboreime & Reham Shalaby & Nnamdi Nkire & Belinda Agyapong & Hannah Pazderka & Gloria Obuobi-Donkor & Ernest Owusu & Folajinmi Oluwasina & Yanbo Zhang & Vincent I. O., 2022. "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and Wildfires: A Fifth-Year Postdisaster Evaluation among Residents of Fort McMurray," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Lawrence A. Palinkas & Jessenia De Leon & Kexin Yu & Erika Salinas & Cecilia Fernandez & Jill Johnston & Md Mostafijur Rahman & Sam J. Silva & Michael Hurlburt & Rob S. McConnell & Erika Garcia, 2023. "Adaptation Resources and Responses to Wildfire Smoke and Other Forms of Air Pollution in Low-Income Urban Settings: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-16, April.
    3. Mohamad Khoirun Najib & Sri Nurdiati & Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan, 2022. "Multivariate fire risk models using copula regression in Kalimantan, Indonesia," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 113(2), pages 1263-1283, September.
    4. Fadia Isaac & Samia R. Toukhsati & Mirella Di Benedetto & Gerard A. Kennedy, 2021. "A Systematic Review of the Impact of Wildfires on Sleep Disturbances," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Jordan Koder & James Dunk & Paul Rhodes, 2023. "Climate Distress: A Review of Current Psychological Research and Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-16, May.
    6. Julie Von Behren & Michelle Wong & Daniela Morales & Peggy Reynolds & Paul B. English & Gina Solomon, 2022. "Returning Individual Tap Water Testing Results to Research Study Participants after a Wildfire Disaster," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-13, January.
    7. Fadia Isaac & Samia R. Toukhsati & Britt Klein & Mirella Di Benedetto & Gerard A. Kennedy, 2023. "Differences in Anxiety, Insomnia, and Trauma Symptoms in Wildfire Survivors from Australia, Canada, and the United States of America," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Lisa Woodland & Priyanjali Ratwatte & Revati Phalkey & Emma L. Gillingham, 2023. "Investigating the Health Impacts of Climate Change among People with Pre-Existing Mental Health Problems: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-33, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julie Bayle-Cordier & Loïc Berger & Rayan Elatmani & Massimo Tavoni, 2023. "Breath, Love, Walk? The Impact of Mindfulness Interventions on Climate Policy Support and Environmental Attitudes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-29, July.
    2. Raissa Sorgho & Isabel Mank & Moubassira Kagoné & Aurélia Souares & Ina Danquah & Rainer Sauerborn, 2020. "“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-25, October.
    3. Nkabinde, B & Lekhanya, L.M & Dorasamy, N., 2024. "Rural-Urban Migration Challenges in South Africa: Case of Kwazulu-Natal (SA)," Journal of Economic and Social Development, Clinical Journals Press, vol. 11(02), pages 01-17, September.
    4. Frijters, Paul & Johnston, David W. & Knott, Rachel & Torgler, Benno, 2021. "Resilience to Disaster: Evidence from Daily Wellbeing Data," IZA Discussion Papers 14220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Sahoo, Dukhabandhu & Mohanty, Pritisudha & Mishra, Surbhi & Behera, Manash & Mohapatra, Souryabrata, 2024. "Does climate-smart agriculture technology improve the subjective well-being of farmers? Evidence from micro-level data," MPRA Paper 123955, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Hochachka, Gail, 2021. "Integrating the four faces of climate change adaptation: Towards transformative change in Guatemalan coffee communities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    7. James Ayers & Jayne Bryant & Merlina Missimer, 2020. "The Use of Reflective Pedagogies in Sustainability Leadership Education—A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-21, August.
    8. Xuena Liu & Hui Liu & Hua Fan & Yizhi Liu & Guoyong Ding, 2018. "Influence of Heat Waves on Daily Hospital Visits for Mental Illness in Jinan, China—A Case-Crossover Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    9. Hans Sanderson & Michael Goodsite, 2015. "Editorial—Global Climate Change and Contaminants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-3, July.
    10. Zac Coates & Michelle Kelly & Scott Brown, 2024. "The Relationship between Climate Anxiety and Pro-Environment Behaviours," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-14, June.
    11. Ghasem Toloo & Gerard FitzGerald & Peter Aitken & Kenneth Verrall & Shilu Tong, 2013. "Evaluating the effectiveness of heat warning systems: systematic review of epidemiological evidence," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(5), pages 667-681, October.
    12. Sarya Natur & Odeya Damri & Galila Agam, 2022. "The Effect of Global Warming on Complex Disorders (Mental Disorders, Primary Hypertension, and Type 2 Diabetes)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-9, July.
    13. Kathryn J. Bowen & Sharon Friel & Kristie Ebi & Colin D. Butler & Fiona Miller & Anthony J. McMichael, 2011. "Governing for a Healthy Population: Towards an Understanding of How Decision-Making Will Determine Our Global Health in a Changing Climate," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, December.
    14. Roslilee Ab. Halim & Soo-Cheng Chuah, 2023. "Household Sustainable Consumption Intention," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 15(3), pages 59-66.
    15. Ghada Talat Alhothali & Noha M. Almoraie & Israa M. Shatwan & Najlaa M. Aljefree, 2021. "Sociodemographic Characteristics and Dietary Choices as Determinants of Climate Change Understanding and Concern in Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-14, October.
    16. Michael T Schmeltz & Janet L Gamble, 2017. "Risk characterization of hospitalizations for mental illness and/or behavioral disorders with concurrent heat-related illness," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-15, October.
    17. Mochamad Pasha & Marc Rockmore & Chih Ming Tan & Dhanushka Thamarapani, 2023. "Early Life Exposure to Above Average Rainfall and Adult Mental Health," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 85(4), pages 692-717, August.
    18. Ahmadiani, Mona & Ferreira, Susana, 2021. "Well-being effects of extreme weather events in the United States," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. Berrang-Ford, Lea & Dingle, Kathryn & Ford, James D. & Lee, Celine & Lwasa, Shuaib & Namanya, Didas B. & Henderson, Jim & Llanos, Alejandro & Carcamo, Cesar & Edge, Victoria, 2012. "Vulnerability of indigenous health to climate change: A case study of Uganda's Batwa Pygmies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 1067-1077.
    20. Aderita Sena & Christovam Barcellos & Carlos Freitas & Carlos Corvalan, 2014. "Managing the Health Impacts of Drought in Brazil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1487-:d:493432. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.