Psychological Impact of the Oil Spill: Florida and Alabama
Psychological Impact of the Oil Spill: Florida and Alabama
Background: Although public concern has focused on the environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the public health impact on a broad range of coastal communities is minimally known.
Objective: We sought to determine the acute level of distress (depression, anxiety), mechanisms of adjustment (coping, resilience), and perceived risk in a community indirectly impacted by the oil spill and to identify the extent to which economic loss may explain these factors.
Methods: Using a community-based participatory model, we performed standardized assessments of psychological distress (mood, anxiety), coping, resilience, neurocognition, and perceived risk on residents of fishing communities who were indirectly impacted (n = 71, Franklin County, Florida) or directly exposed (n = 23, Baldwin County, Alabama) to coastal oil. We also compared findings for participants who reported income stability (n = 47) versus spill-related income loss (n = 47).
Results: We found no significant differences between community groups in terms of psychological distress, adjustment, neurocognition, or environmental worry. Residents of both communities displayed clinically significant depression and anxiety. Relative to those with stable incomes, participants with spill-related income loss had significantly worse scores on tension/anxiety, depression, fatigue, confusion, and total mood disturbance scales; had higher rates of depression; were less resilient; and were more likely to use behavioral disengagement as a coping strategy.
Conclusions: Current estimates of human health impacts associated with the oil spill may underestimate the psychological impact in Gulf Coast communities that did not experience direct exposure to oil. Income loss after the spill may have a greater psychological health impact than the presence of oil on the immediately adjacent shoreline.
The Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion and spill on 20 April 2010 generated substantial concerns about the ecological impact on the U.S. Gulf Coast environment. For 5 months, almost 5 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, reaching > 600 miles of the Gulf Coast shoreline in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas (Devi 2010; McCauley 2010; Schmidt 2010). It was the largest offshore spill in U.S. history (McCauley 2010). The oil spill disrupted the region's fishing industry, destroyed renewable natural resources, and caused significant mortality of fish and wildlife. Numerous questions were also raised about the potential impact of the spill on human health in oil-exposed regions and surrounding communities.
Using a community-based participatory research model, our investigators worked with community agencies and leaders from two Gulf Coast fishing communities (Franklin County, Florida and Baldwin County, Alabama) to develop and implement a formal investigation of the acute psychological distress, neuropsychological baseline status, and personal resources for adjustment and adaptation of local residents. Extant data suggest that after disasters, mental health problems are most likely to appear after the acute crisis has abated (see Rubonis and Bickman 1991 for review; van den Berg et al. 2005). However, real-time acute psychological data are rarely available. These data are particularly important, as the psychological impacts of an oil spill can be as substantive as the ecological impacts (Arata et al. 2000; Gill and Picou 1998; Palinkas et al. 1992, 1993; Sabucedo et al. 2009).
Because oil never reached Franklin County shores, effects of the disaster would have been indirect (i.e., not due to direct exposure to the oil) but may have been significant nonetheless. Residents observed daily media reports about the spill, provided clean-up assistance in other Gulf communities, and actively engaged in protective environmental activities in anticipation of oil reaching their shores. Fears about seafood safety led to a dramatic reduction in local seafood harvesting, forcing layoffs in packing houses and transportation because of a lack of product.
The potential for significant psychological sequelae after indirect exposure to oil spills and other environmental disasters has been well documented. These parallel the psychological distress associated with direct disaster exposure and include symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Baschnagel et al. 2009; Carballo et al. 2006; Chung et al. 2005; Dixon et al. 1993; Gallacher et al. 2007). Three psychological factors consistently emerge as possible mediators of psychological distress after oil spills or disasters. These include coping, or the process through which people regulate distress and manage the problems related to it (Benight et al. 1999; Chung et al. 2005); resilience, the ability to bounce back after crisis (Bonanno et al. 2006; Rajkumar et al. 2008); and perceived risk, the way people approach, think about, and interpret the risks in their environment (Gallacher et al. 2007; Moffatt et al. 2000; Renn 2004). These processes guide the way an individual views the risks and challenges of the situation, define their predisposition to maintain emotional stability in the midst of crisis, and provide the basic tools for problem solving, planning, and adaptation.
The most severe, lasting, and pervasive psychological effects are often found after disasters that engender serious and ongoing financial problems (Nandi et al. 2009; Norris et al. 2002). Economic resource loss has been associated specifically with long-term psychological and mental health symptoms after both the Exxon Valdez and Prestige oil spills (Arata et al. 2000; Sabucedo et al. 2009). We hypothesized that income loss during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster would be associated with similar acute psychological reactions.
Many factors impacting psychological reactivity after oil spills are potentially modifiable. With this in mind, our community–academic partnership was initiated to identify people at greatest risk for mental health problems for early public health intervention. The study objective was 2-fold: a) to determine the acute level of psychological distress (depression, anxiety), mechanisms of adjustment (coping, resilience), and perceived risk of individuals in a community who were indirectly impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster; and b) to determine whether participants who sustained economic loss as a result of the oil spill had greater evidence of psychological distress, reduced capacity for adjustment (coping, resilience), and greater perceived risk than persons who were economically stable. We hypothesized that a) in Gulf coastal communities, the psychological distress (depression, anxiety), mechanisms of adjustment (coping, resilience), and perceived risk (environmental worry) associated with indirect impact would be similar to that of direct exposure to the oil spill disaster; and that b) people with oil spill–related economic losses would have more psychological distress, have less resilience, be more likely to use maladaptive coping strategies, and report more risk concerns than those with economic stability during the oil spill crisis.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Background: Although public concern has focused on the environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the public health impact on a broad range of coastal communities is minimally known.
Objective: We sought to determine the acute level of distress (depression, anxiety), mechanisms of adjustment (coping, resilience), and perceived risk in a community indirectly impacted by the oil spill and to identify the extent to which economic loss may explain these factors.
Methods: Using a community-based participatory model, we performed standardized assessments of psychological distress (mood, anxiety), coping, resilience, neurocognition, and perceived risk on residents of fishing communities who were indirectly impacted (n = 71, Franklin County, Florida) or directly exposed (n = 23, Baldwin County, Alabama) to coastal oil. We also compared findings for participants who reported income stability (n = 47) versus spill-related income loss (n = 47).
Results: We found no significant differences between community groups in terms of psychological distress, adjustment, neurocognition, or environmental worry. Residents of both communities displayed clinically significant depression and anxiety. Relative to those with stable incomes, participants with spill-related income loss had significantly worse scores on tension/anxiety, depression, fatigue, confusion, and total mood disturbance scales; had higher rates of depression; were less resilient; and were more likely to use behavioral disengagement as a coping strategy.
Conclusions: Current estimates of human health impacts associated with the oil spill may underestimate the psychological impact in Gulf Coast communities that did not experience direct exposure to oil. Income loss after the spill may have a greater psychological health impact than the presence of oil on the immediately adjacent shoreline.
Introduction
The Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion and spill on 20 April 2010 generated substantial concerns about the ecological impact on the U.S. Gulf Coast environment. For 5 months, almost 5 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, reaching > 600 miles of the Gulf Coast shoreline in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas (Devi 2010; McCauley 2010; Schmidt 2010). It was the largest offshore spill in U.S. history (McCauley 2010). The oil spill disrupted the region's fishing industry, destroyed renewable natural resources, and caused significant mortality of fish and wildlife. Numerous questions were also raised about the potential impact of the spill on human health in oil-exposed regions and surrounding communities.
Using a community-based participatory research model, our investigators worked with community agencies and leaders from two Gulf Coast fishing communities (Franklin County, Florida and Baldwin County, Alabama) to develop and implement a formal investigation of the acute psychological distress, neuropsychological baseline status, and personal resources for adjustment and adaptation of local residents. Extant data suggest that after disasters, mental health problems are most likely to appear after the acute crisis has abated (see Rubonis and Bickman 1991 for review; van den Berg et al. 2005). However, real-time acute psychological data are rarely available. These data are particularly important, as the psychological impacts of an oil spill can be as substantive as the ecological impacts (Arata et al. 2000; Gill and Picou 1998; Palinkas et al. 1992, 1993; Sabucedo et al. 2009).
Because oil never reached Franklin County shores, effects of the disaster would have been indirect (i.e., not due to direct exposure to the oil) but may have been significant nonetheless. Residents observed daily media reports about the spill, provided clean-up assistance in other Gulf communities, and actively engaged in protective environmental activities in anticipation of oil reaching their shores. Fears about seafood safety led to a dramatic reduction in local seafood harvesting, forcing layoffs in packing houses and transportation because of a lack of product.
The potential for significant psychological sequelae after indirect exposure to oil spills and other environmental disasters has been well documented. These parallel the psychological distress associated with direct disaster exposure and include symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Baschnagel et al. 2009; Carballo et al. 2006; Chung et al. 2005; Dixon et al. 1993; Gallacher et al. 2007). Three psychological factors consistently emerge as possible mediators of psychological distress after oil spills or disasters. These include coping, or the process through which people regulate distress and manage the problems related to it (Benight et al. 1999; Chung et al. 2005); resilience, the ability to bounce back after crisis (Bonanno et al. 2006; Rajkumar et al. 2008); and perceived risk, the way people approach, think about, and interpret the risks in their environment (Gallacher et al. 2007; Moffatt et al. 2000; Renn 2004). These processes guide the way an individual views the risks and challenges of the situation, define their predisposition to maintain emotional stability in the midst of crisis, and provide the basic tools for problem solving, planning, and adaptation.
The most severe, lasting, and pervasive psychological effects are often found after disasters that engender serious and ongoing financial problems (Nandi et al. 2009; Norris et al. 2002). Economic resource loss has been associated specifically with long-term psychological and mental health symptoms after both the Exxon Valdez and Prestige oil spills (Arata et al. 2000; Sabucedo et al. 2009). We hypothesized that income loss during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster would be associated with similar acute psychological reactions.
Many factors impacting psychological reactivity after oil spills are potentially modifiable. With this in mind, our community–academic partnership was initiated to identify people at greatest risk for mental health problems for early public health intervention. The study objective was 2-fold: a) to determine the acute level of psychological distress (depression, anxiety), mechanisms of adjustment (coping, resilience), and perceived risk of individuals in a community who were indirectly impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster; and b) to determine whether participants who sustained economic loss as a result of the oil spill had greater evidence of psychological distress, reduced capacity for adjustment (coping, resilience), and greater perceived risk than persons who were economically stable. We hypothesized that a) in Gulf coastal communities, the psychological distress (depression, anxiety), mechanisms of adjustment (coping, resilience), and perceived risk (environmental worry) associated with indirect impact would be similar to that of direct exposure to the oil spill disaster; and that b) people with oil spill–related economic losses would have more psychological distress, have less resilience, be more likely to use maladaptive coping strategies, and report more risk concerns than those with economic stability during the oil spill crisis.
Source...