The following section summarizes research and theoretical models on natural hazard exposure and mental health and age differences in disaster adaptation. Research gaps are identified to facilitate the development of our research hypotheses.
2.1 Cumulative Natural Hazard Exposure and Mental Health
Literature on the impacts of natural hazards has examined a wide range of mental health outcomes, notably post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety (Goldmann and Galea
2014). Post-traumatic stress disorder was among the most characteristic mental consequences of disaster experiences, with 0% to 70.51% of the disaster-affected population reporting PTSD (Lowe et al.
2019). Moreover, a meta-analysis found that 5.8% to 54.0% of adult residents suffered from clinically depressive disorder after natural hazards and disasters (Tang et al.
2014). Exposure to natural hazards may be associated with increased susceptibility to mental health symptoms in the general population (Goldmann and Galea
2014; Beaglehole et al.
2018), but the risks often change with disaster type. Among the most studied natural hazards are hydrometeorological and geological hazards. Studies have revealed that hurricane-related traumatic events, such as Hurricane Katrina, caused mental disorders among more than half of the respondents (Raker et al.
2019). About 15–35% of people with flood experience exhibited clinical symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, or depression (Mason et al.
2010; Bei et al.
2013). In addition, acute geologic hazards like earthquakes can pose considerable threats to human health and the quality of life (Cui and Han
2019). Evidence from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami shows that more than 10% of survivors reported post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms (Kino et al.
2020,
2021). Nonetheless, biological hazards, such as forest fires that may also cause damage to human health, are insufficiently explored.
Moving beyond single natural hazards, scholarly interest in multi-hazard settings is growing rapidly. This is because several natural hazard events may occur successively or simultaneously (Leppold et al.
2022), affecting residents of a specific region multiple times within a few months/years. Harville et al. (
2018) proposed three mechanisms to explain psychological adaptation to multiple natural hazards: (1) cumulative risk, which is defined as a dose-response trend in the risk of worsening mental health following multiple natural hazard events; (2) sensitization, in which people with previous exposure to natural hazards may experience a greater loss in health and well-being after recent disasters; and (3) habituation, where past disaster exposure can foster resilience in people, enhancing their capability to maintain well-being in adverse circumstances. The cumulative risk model has received the most empirical support because exposure to multiple hazards often intensifies the risk of mental health problems among residents in the same region (Harville et al.
2018; Leppold et al.
2022). There is evidence showing that cumulative exposure to hydrometeorological hazards (for example, two or more hurricanes) was related to deteriorated mental well-being (Jacobs and Harville
2015; Garfin et al.
2022). Regarding the sensitization model, a few studies showed that people who suffered losses in previous hurricanes had a higher likelihood of experiencing mental health issues in new hazard settings (Callender et al.
2022; Garfin et al.
2022). In settings with multiple natural hazards, the evidence of habituation has been rarely reported by past studies and warrants further investigation (Harville et al.
2018).
Most research tracks mental health status within a short post-disaster period (Morina et al.
2014) and has frequently pinpointed the elevated risks in the early stage of a natural hazard-related disaster event. In many cases, psychological symptoms peak within 12 months following disasters (Norris et al.
2002) and then abate with time (Krause
1987; Phifer and Norris
1989). Although much post-disaster evidence demonstrates a trend toward recovery, some research reported a persistent risk of mental health problems among the affected population. A review concluded that mid- or long-term remission rates of PTSD among disaster-affected individuals ranged from 8% to 89% (Morina et al.
2014). For example, one in five residents developed persistent depressive disorders five years after the Great East Japan Earthquake (Kino et al.
2021) or 12 years after Hurricane Katrina (Raker et al.
2019). However, a stable pattern of negative emotions in pre- and post-disaster periods has also been observed (Pruchno et al.
2021; Nagai et al.
2022). Because extant longitudinal studies have merely considered single hazards and yielded mixed findings, we know little about long-term psychological adaptation to multiple natural hazards. In multi-hazard contexts, long-term mental health burden deserves particular attention because cumulative exposure to damage may be more likely than a single hazard to cause socioeconomic losses, interrupt disaster recovery efforts, and lead to chronic stress among residents.
Moreover, it remains unclear whether the effects of multiple natural hazards on depression persist or dilute in the long term. Compared to PTSD, which may be closely linked to peri-disaster traumatic experiences (Goldmann and Galea
2014) and has acute onsets, depression represents more general and enduring episodes of low mood. Moreover, prior PTSD can trigger the development of depression (Ginzburg et al.
2010). Research has shown that the remission rates of depressive symptoms remain much lower than that of PTSD (Raker et al.
2019; Kino et al.
2021), indicating that long-term depression may represent a chronic mental health problem that requires sustainable recovery resources. Unfortunately, no prior research has examined the long-term effects of multiple types of natural hazards on mental health, particularly depression. Therefore, a study on natural hazard exposure and depressive symptoms across disaster contexts (for example, multiple exposures and different hazard types) and over time may be beneficial for improving disaster preparedness in high-risk areas and designing comprehensive disaster policy responses.
2.2 Age Differences in Psychological Adaptation to Natural Hazards
In disaster adaptation research, it remains highly debatable whether older people are more vulnerable or more resilient to post-disaster depressive symptoms than middle-aged and younger adults. The discourse of old-age vulnerability abounds in recent literature because aging-related health decline coupled with social isolation could worsen older adults’ ability to cope with environmental risks (Filiberto et al.
2009). For example, studies have emphasized that older age is a risk factor for mental health problems after hurricanes (Lowe et al.
2015) and earthquakes (Jia et al.
2010; Kun et al.
2013). Moreover, it is argued that the secondary effects of natural hazards, such as social disruptions, could incur substantial negative psychological responses among older adults (McClelland et al.
2017).
However, other research on older adults’ experience of natural hazards has reported a strikingly distinct pattern. Remarkably, gerontological and disaster research a few decades ago documented an exceptional level of resilience that older adults’ mental health was less affected by natural hazards than younger groups (for example, Bell
1978; Huerta and Horton
1978; Kilijanek and Drabek
1979; Phifer
1990). Several scholars have also noted that older adults did not develop severe post-disaster depressive symptoms or PTSD (for example, Strough et al.
2024) and even sustained a higher level of positive emotions (Rafiey et al.
2016) than younger groups. Disaster experience was found to be unrelated to the trajectory of depressive symptoms among older adults in a few recent studies (Kino et al.
2021).
The equivocal findings indicate a lacuna in the current understanding of age-related psychological adaptation to natural hazards. Disaster prevention and recovery interventions can be hampered by the inability to identify high-risk groups. Exposure to multiple natural hazards may increase the enduring risk of mental health problems (Leppold et al.
2022), but such risk is not equally distributed in different age groups. If older adults are more vulnerable to persistent psychological impacts of natural hazards than younger groups, tailored interventions must be delivered to meet their mental health needs. Otherwise, older adults could be mobilized as a key asset for building community-based disaster management capacity. To fill this gap, this research further examined whether the association between multiple natural hazard exposures and depression varies by age group.
2.3 The Current Study
This study examined the long-term associations of cumulative hazard exposure with depression among rural Chinese adults. We focused on participants from rural regions where physical vulnerability may compound with social and institutional constraints. First, compared to urban regions, rural communities, especially in mountainous regions, are more susceptible to the losses of natural hazards. This is because rural residents mainly rely on the agricultural economy and are at an elevated risk of poverty following natural hazards. Second, studies have indicated that rural households tend to have a lower disaster preparedness, particularly in terms of material and action preparedness, than their urban counterparts (Chai et al.
2021). Third, disaster health management and medical infrastructure remain restricted in rural areas due to inadequate government funding (Zhong et al.
2014). Consequently, multiple natural hazard events may trigger a secondary surge (Runkle et al.
2012) in unmet healthcare needs among rural populations.
According to the cumulative risk model, exposure to multiple natural hazards may cause increased psychological stress. Because the timing of and between exposures was not measured in our data, the sensitization model that assumes a more acute psychological response after subsequent exposures cannot be tested. This study first hypothesized a cumulative risk that “multiple natural hazard exposures are positively associated with depression among Chinese adults” (Hypothesis 1). Moreover, hazard-related impacts are often dependent on the type of natural hazard. It was further hypothesized that “the associations between multiple natural hazard exposures and depression vary by natural hazard type” (Hypothesis 2). Regarding age differences, we tend to endorse the resilience perspective for older adults (Rafiey et al.
2016; Bellet al.
2020) in settings with multiple natural hazards because older people may accumulate more resilience that enables bouncing back from traumatic events. It was anticipated that “older adults’ depression may be less affected by multiple natural hazard exposures than that of middle-aged and younger adults” (Hypothesis 3).