{"doi":"10.1017/dmp.2024.175","title":"Psychological Associations of Multiple Disasters: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents in Puerto Rico","abstract":"Abstract Objectives Psychological reactions in response to disasters have been associated with increased mental health (MH) symptomatology, decreased quality of life (QOL), and post-traumatic stress (PTSD). This study provides a rare opportunity to examine post disaster MH longitudinally in a sample of adolescents. Methods From 2018-20, adolescents (12-18 years, N =228) were interviewed about disaster exposure, QOL using the Adolescent Quality of Life-Mental Health Scale (AQOL-MHS), psychological symptoms, and diagnoses. Results Having an MH diagnosis and PTSD are clear indicators of worse Emotional Regulation (ER) ( P ≤ 0.03, P ≤ 0.0001) and Self-Concept (SC) ( P ≤ 0.006, P ≤ 0.002) QOL. Girls were disproportionately affected in all models for SC and Social Context domains ( P ≤ 0.0001, P ≤ 0.01). Interaction models results for ER ( P ≤ 0.05) and SC ( P ≤ 0.01) indicate that those with PTSD are improving over time at a greater rate than those without PTSD. Conclusions Recovery takes time and a clear sex disparity for girls was observed. Results for the different AQOL-MHS domains highlight how the challenges experienced by disasters are multifaceted. Knowing who is at greater risk can allow for better resource allocation and targeted population-based prevention strategies to promote and maintain MH and resolve risk factors for mental illnesses.","journal":"Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness","year":2025,"id":551053,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.697,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1446898,"name":"Pedro A. García","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":761867,"name":"Jim P. Stimpson","orcid":"0000-0002-1266-9436","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1446899,"name":"Keilyn M. Vale Lassalle","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1446900,"name":"Janet T. Saumell-Rivera","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":864311,"name":"Alexander N. Ortega","orcid":"0000-0001-6861-6993","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":955798,"name":"Ligia Chávez","orcid":"0000-0001-5512-8552","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":46,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:54:20.915388Z","pmid":"39757530","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}