ABSTRACT Introduction Poor self‐rated health (i.e., perceived health status relative to same‐aged individuals) is associated with elevated all‐cause mortality. Research examining post‐disaster self‐rated health is limited but could inform disaster theory and interventions. Identifying and subsequently mitigating individual and contextual determinants of self‐rated health could address adverse, downstream effects. Method The current study includes secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial of a digital mental health intervention in a diverse sample of 1357 hurricane‐affected adults (49.5% Latine ethnicity). We examined longitudinal relations between baseline (post‐disaster) mental health outcomes, baseline social support, demographics, and baseline and follow‐up self‐rated health (calculated as a change score and 12‐month follow‐up score). We hypothesized those with elevated baseline psychopathology would be more likely to select the “fair/poor” health category (relative to “good/very good/excellent” self‐rated health), and that greater social support would longitudinally predict improved self‐rated health. Older individuals were also expected to select the “fair/poor” health category. Results Individuals with higher baseline depressive symptoms and sleep disturbances were more likely to report “fair/poor” self‐rated health at baseline and 12 months. Controlling for baseline self‐rated health, depression remained a significant predictor of worse 12‐month self‐rated health in binary and ordinal logistic regressions. Social support did not predict baseline or 12‐month self‐rated health. Age and gender were non‐significant moderators; no variables predicted change scores. Conclusion Depressive symptoms appear to be a key predictor of self‐rated health one year post‐disaster. Addressing depression post‐disaster may mitigate adverse health outcomes.
Pavlacic et al. (Sat,) studied this question.