Perceived stress in the Hurricane Maria disaster predicts sleep disturbance two years later during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study examined whether stress‑linked sleep disturbance observed during the recovery period (2019) after the disaster caused by Hurricane Maria persisted during the COVID‑19 pandemic (2021) among adults in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. A random subsample of 65 participants from a 2019 post‑Maria assessment of 153 individuals was re‑contacted in September–October 2021 for follow‑up evaluation. Measures included perceived stress, sleep disturbance, and affective distress relevant to each disaster context. Higher Maria‑related perceived stress significantly predicted disturbed sleep during the COVID‑19 pandemic, suggesting that, absent intervention, a stress‑linked sleep‑disturbance vulnerability persists across sequential disasters in this population.