Life Change and Illness: Illness Behavior of Males in the Recovery Period of a Natural Disaster

This research investigates the relationship between stress and the self-reported incidence and prevalence of physical illness and emotional disorders in a sample of middle-aged, working-class men during the recovery period of a natural disaster. Hypotheses concerning the illness behavior of respondents who had and who had not experiencedflooding of their housing unit were tested. The research design entailed personal interviews with a stratified, multistage probability sample of 91 men in two upstate Pennsylvania communitiesflooded in June 1972. In addition to answering questions contained in an interview schedule, all respondents completed the Schedule of Recent Experience and the Gurin Symptom Checklist. Although there were no significant differences in the number and nature of the illnesses experienced by the flood and non-flood respondents, there were significant differences in the duration of illness and self-perceived influence of the flood on the health of the two subsamples of respondents.