Latent class analysis identified three typologies of post-disaster loss (home damage, displacement, and multi-loss) among older adults in Puerto Rico two years after Hurricane María, with the multi-loss group reporting worse mental health outcomes than those who experienced home damage only.
Key Findings
Results
Two-thirds of older adults surveyed experienced home damage and nearly half lost food following Hurricane María.
Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 154 older adults between 2019 and 2020, approximately 2 years after Hurricane María struck Puerto Rico in 2017.
Approximately two-thirds (roughly 67%) of participants suffered home damage.
47% of participants lost food as a result of the hurricane.
The study assessed multidimensional losses including food, housing, and financial resources.
Results
Latent class analysis identified three distinct typologies of loss experienced by older adults after Hurricane María: home damage, displacement, and multi-loss.
Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to classify participants into loss typologies based on configurations of post-disaster losses.
The three classes identified were labeled 'home damage,' 'displacement,' and 'multi-loss.'
The typologies reflect qualitatively different patterns of resource deprivation rather than simply varying severity on a single dimension.
This approach allowed the researchers to examine how configurations of loss, rather than individual loss types, relate to mental health outcomes.
Results
Older adults in the multi-loss group reported worse mental health outcomes compared to those in the home damage group two years after the hurricane.
Mental health was assessed approximately 2 years post-disaster (interviews conducted 2019–2020).
Older adults who experienced home damage reported better mental health outcomes compared to those in the multi-loss group.
The multi-loss typology, involving multiple simultaneous forms of loss, was associated with the worst long-term mental health outcomes.
The findings indicate that accumulation and configuration of losses, not just any single type of loss, predict long-term mental health consequences.
Discussion
The types and configurations of post-disaster loss can have different long-term effects on mental health among older adults.
The study emphasizes that not all losses carry the same mental health implications, and their combination matters.
Findings suggest that addressing both essential basic needs (food, housing) and other forms of loss is important in disaster recovery efforts.
The study provides evidence that multi-dimensional loss frameworks better capture disaster impact on older adult mental health than single-domain assessments.
Results were observed at a 2-year follow-up point, indicating that these mental health differences persist well into the post-disaster recovery period.
Methods
The study used a face-to-face interview methodology with community-dwelling older adults in Puerto Rico to assess post-disaster losses and mental health.
Sample size was 154 older adults.
Interviews were conducted in person between 2019 and 2020.
The study focused specifically on older adults, a population recognized as particularly vulnerable in natural disaster contexts.
Hurricane María struck Puerto Rico in 2017, making the assessment approximately 2 years post-disaster.
What This Means
This research studied how older adults in Puerto Rico were affected mentally by Hurricane María, which devastated the island in 2017. Researchers interviewed 154 older adults about two years after the storm and found that most had experienced significant losses — about two-thirds had home damage and nearly half lost food. Using a statistical method called latent class analysis, the researchers grouped people into three categories based on what kinds of losses they experienced: those who mainly had home damage, those who were displaced, and those who suffered multiple types of losses at once.
The key finding was that older adults who experienced many different types of losses simultaneously — the 'multi-loss' group — had worse mental health two years after the hurricane compared to those who mainly experienced home damage. This suggests that it is not just any single type of loss (like losing your home) but the combination and accumulation of losses that has the greatest long-term impact on mental health. People dealing with damaged homes, displacement, food insecurity, and financial losses all at once appear to face a much harder mental health burden over time.
This research suggests that disaster recovery efforts should go beyond addressing just one type of need, such as housing repair, and instead consider the full range of losses older adults face. Identifying people who have experienced multiple simultaneous losses could help target mental health support and resources to those most at risk of long-term psychological harm after major disasters.
Kim K, Burnette D, Kim S. (2026). Multidimensional Losses and Mental Health of Older Adults in Puerto Rico in the Aftermath of Hurricane Mária.. Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648261426731