SOCIAL SUPPORT FOLLOWING A DISASTER

Thirty-nine victims of a natural disaster were interviewed six weeks after tornadoes touched down in their communities in east central Oh~o and west central Pennsylvania. Data were gathered as part of a pilot study for a subsequent investigation of mental health help-seeking following natural disasters. The present study hypothesized that perceived availability of social support would moderate the stress associated with the disaster, reSUlting in a negative correlation with a measure of psychological sYmptomatology. Results yielded no significant correlations. Instead, measures of the severity of, and distress caused by disruption of social networks were significantly and positively correlated with measures of anxiety, depression, and somatization. It is suggested that the severity of the event and the concomitant stressors caused by disruption of th