Summary

Disasters caused by extreme weather are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change increasing the likelihood that more people will experience multiple disasters in their lifetimes. Yet not much is known about factors that may be associated with multiple disaster exposure and their attendant health impacts. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and disaster preparedness on both multiple disaster exposure and perceived stress, for residents at risk of experiencing multiple disasters. Binary logistic regression was conducted using primary survey data collected from 2020-2022, which captured two hurricane seasons (n = 807). Two models were run, one with repeated disaster exposure as the dependent variable and one with perceived stress as the dependent variable. Independent variables in both models included sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, race, gender) and disaster preparedness. Results indicate respondents who have previously prepared for disaster were more likely to have experienced multiple disasters, while those who identified as White were less likely to have experienced multiple disasters than those who did not identify as White. Results also indicate that women, younger respondents, and those with less education experienced high levels of perceived stress. These findings provide insights into factors that are associated with multiple disaster exposure, including the linkage between disaster preparedness and multiple disaster exposure as well as socio-demographic characteristics including gender that are associated with higher levels of perceived stress for those at risk of experiencing multiple disasters.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Disaster Preparedness, Climate Change, Stress.