Methods for Disaster Mental Health Research

by Norris, Fran H.; Galea, Sandro; Friedman, Matthew J.; Watson, Patricia J.

• ISBN13: 9781593853105
• ISBN10: 1593853106
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-08-03
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

This authoritative book will be of interest to anyone involved in studying the mental health consequences of large-scale traumatic events or in measuring the effectiveness of postdisaster interventions. The book considers disasters from different perspectives and translates their chaotic aftermath into feasible research ideas and approaches. Contributing authors, all experienced researchers and practitioners, present a wide range of methods and strategies used in epidemiology, program evaluation, and public mental health planning in the aftermath of natural or technological disasters and terrorism. Descriptions of exemplary studies bring to life the associated logistical and scientific challenges and show how these challenges can be addressed using high-quality research designs.

Author Biography

Fran H. Norris, PhD, a community/social psychologist, is a Research Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School, where she is affiliated with the National Center for PTSD and with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism, headed by the University of Maryland. She has published extensively on the psychosocial consequences of disasters.
 
Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a Research Affiliate of the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research. His research focuses on the social and economic production of health, particularly mental health and behavior in urban settings, and he has an abiding interest in the social and health consequences of collectively experienced traumatic events.
 
Matthew J. Friedman, MD, PhD, is Executive Director of the National Center for PTSD and Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at Dartmouth Medical School. He has worked with patients with PTSD for more than 30 years and has written or edited 180 books, monographs, chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles.
 
Patricia J. Watson, PhD, is an educational specialist for the National Center for PTSD and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School. She collaborates with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and subject-matter experts to create publications for public and mental health interventions following large-scale terrorism, disaster, and pandemic flu.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Field

Definitions and Concepts in Disaster Research

Psychosocial Consequences of Disasters: A Review of Past Research

Research Fundamentals

Choosing Research Methods to Match Research Goals in Studies of Disaster or Terrorism

Formulating Questions about Postdisaster Mental Health

Ethical Issues in Disaster Research

Methods for Sampling and Data Collection

Basic Epidemiological Approaches to Disaster Research: Value of Face-to-Face Procedures

Telephone-Based Research Methods in Disaster Research

Web-Based Methods in Disaster Research

School-Based Studies of Children Following Disasters

Qualitative Approaches to Studying the Effects of Disasters

Research for Planning, Policy, and Service Delivery

Public Mental Health Surveillance and Monitoring

Mental Health Services and Evaluation Research: Precepts, Pragmatics, and Politics

Evidence-Based Treatments for Traumatic Stress: An Overview of the Research with an Emphasis on Disaster Settings

Strategies for Dissemination of Evidence-Based Treatments: Training Clinicians after Large-Scale Disasters

Special Challenges in Disaster Research

Conducting Research with Children and Adolescents after Disaster

Conducting Research with Military and Uniformed Services Workers

Conducting Research in Minority and Marginalized Communities

Conducting Research in Other Countries

Disaster Mental Health Research: Challenges for the Future

Disasters Mentioned in the Text

Searching the Traumatic Stress Literature

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.