May 22 - July 31
The Connection Between Severe Weather Experiences and Emotional Wellbeing in Native Americans in Oklahoma
Alexis N. Kotrch, Maggie Leòn-Corwin, and Joseph T. Ripberger
What is already known:
- Severe weather events have a negative impact on wellbeing
- Native Americans in Oklahoma are at an increased risk for severe weather
- Native American populations are underserved and lack access to vital resources, including mental health care
What this study adds:
- There is a correlation between severe weather experiences and stress response
- Native American populations may experience higher reliving of stressful events than their non-Native counterparts
- Further research is needed to determine that Native American populations experience higher measures of post-traumatic stress after severe weather events compared to their non-Native counterparts
Abstract:
Native Americans are underserved and at a greater risk for severe weather in Oklahoma. Previous studies have shown that there is a negative connection between severe weather experiences and emotional wellbeing. Because of this knowledge, we explore the connection between severe weather experiences and emotional wellbeing in Native Americans in Oklahoma. To do so, we use data from Wave 5 of the Oklahoma Meso-Scale Integrated Socio-Geographic Network (M-SISNet) Survey, fielded February 2024 to April 2024. The purpose of this study is to investigate how Native Americans emotional wellbeing, measured through one dimension of post-traumatic stress (reliving), relates to severe weather experiences using pre-severe weather event wellbeing data as a baseline measure. Results from this study indicate that Native Americans experience a higher stress response of reliving stressful events than their non-Native counterparts. We also found that Native Americans who have experienced a tornado may experience higher stress response (reliving) than their non-Native counterparts. Overall, we found that there is a connection between severe weather experiences and emotional wellbeing in Native Americans in Oklahoma. However, more research is needed to explore this relationship using post-event data