1 - (IOP 16) Mental Contamination in the Wake of Hurricane Helene: Peritraumatic and Obsessive-compulsive Risk Factors

Background: Hurricane Helene made landfall in the U.S. in late September 2024 as a Category 4 hurricane, causing tens of billions of dollars in damage, devastating communities, and leading to the deaths of more than 200 people. Not surprisingly, natural disasters of this magnitude can have overwhelming mental health impacts on those who survive. While a great deal of research has examined their impact on depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), to date, no study has directly examined the impact of hurricanes on obsessive-compulsive symptoms—a noteworthy gap given recent findings suggesting that natural disasters are associated with more severe contamination symptoms relative to other index traumas. This longitudinal study is the first to track the development and maintenance of mental contamination symptoms following a hurricane. We examined the role of peritraumatic risk factors (e.g., peritraumatic fear), Hurricane-related impacts (e.g., property damage), PTSS, and obsessive-compulsive beliefs in sustained mental contamination symptoms in the months following Hurricane Helene.

Method: Participants (n=392, Mage=45.9) exposed to Hurricane Helene were recruited from social media and ResearchMatch 1 month post-storm to complete a battery of self-report assessments, 139 of whom have so far completed the ongoing follow-up survey 3-months later. A preliminary regression was run with specific Hurricane-related impacts related to personal and property damage predicting mental contamination (Posttraumatic Experience of Mental Contamination scale [PEMC]); those evidencing unique associations were entered into a subsequent regression equation with peritraumatic risk factors (i.e., fear, derealization, helplessness, predictability), month 1 social support, month 1 obsessive beliefs (Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire [OBQ]), and month 1 PTSS (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 [PCL-5]) predicting month 4 mental contamination, controlling for month 1 PEMC scores.

Results: Participants reported a range of Hurricane-related impacts. Thirty percent of participants endorsed moderate or greater mental contamination at months 1 and 4. Clinically significant PTSS was reported by 27% and 18% at months 1 and 4, respectively. The regression model predicting month 4 mental contamination accounted for 71% of the variance in month 4 PEMC scores (p < 0.001). Having experienced physical harm (β=0.17), month 1 OBQ-Responsibility and Threat Overestimation beliefs (β=0.23), and month 1 PEMC (β=0.55) significantly predicted mental contamination at month 4.

Discussion: This study found that obsessive beliefs related to responsibility and threat overestimation immediately after the storm predicted sustained mental contamination over and above the effects of PTSS and its common risk factors. Findings suggest that mental contamination is not purely driven by PTSS and associated risk factors but also includes an obsessive cognitive component. This study is an important first step in understanding the role of obsessive-compulsive phenomena in the development and maintenance of mental contamination symptoms in the aftermath of natural disasters. Limitations, implications, and future directions will be discussed.