Examination Date

8-2023

Degree

Thesis

Degree Program

Master of Science (MS) Biostatistics

Examination Committee

Oral Evrim, PhD; Zhide Fang, PhD; Ariane Rung, PhD; William Robinson. PhD

Abstract

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DHOS) was a man-made disaster that devastated the Gulf Coast starting in the April 20th, 2010. The economic, physical, and mental ramifications of an ecosystem level catastrophe such as this are both multi-faceted and long term. Many studies on the effect that events such as this have on the surrounding ecosystems have taken place over the years, but fewer have been done on the local communities effected by such adversity.

The Women and their Children’s (WaTCH) study is a study done by the Louisiana State University Health Sciences School of Public Health. It includes a survey given to women and their children in the areas most affected by DHOS and designed to investigate the effects on physical, behavioral, and mental health as a result of exposure to the oil spill in the short and long term in a community.

The goal of this study is to examine the effect of mothers’ loss of resources due to physical and economic consequences of the DHOS has on the mental well-being of their children. The Conservation of Resources (COR) theory was used to understand loss spirals and the effect they can have on mental health, while the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was utilized to determine the mental well-being of the children questioned. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used in tandem with Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to measure and attempt to describe these relationships.

Additional Files
Sternberger.pdf (532 kB)
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