Family violence refers to threatening or other violent behaviour within families that may be physical, sexual, psychological, or economic, and can include child abuse and intimate partner violence (Peterman et al. 2020, van Gelder et al. 2020). Family violence during pandemics is associated with a range of factors including economic stress, disaster‐related instability, increased exposure to exploitative relationships, and reduced options for support (Peterman et al. 2020). Due to the social isolation measures implemented across the globe to help reduce the spread of COVID‐19, people living in volatile situations of family violence are restricted to their homes. Social isolation exacerbates personal and collective vulnerabilities while limiting accessible and familiar support options (van Gelder et al. 2020). In many countries, including Australia, we have already seen an increase in demand for domestic violence services and reports of increased risk for children not attending schools (Duncan, 2020); a pattern similar to previous episodes of social isolation associated with epidemics and pandemics (Boddy, Young & O'Leary 2020).

Quarantine or physical isolation, used for centuries to contain the spread of infection, isolates those who have (or may have) been infected by a contagious disease to control or limit contamination. The COVID‐19, a novel coronavirus first reported in Wuhan, China in late 2019, has rapidly spread across the globe becoming a pandemic. Modern quarantine strategies have been imposed globally in an attempt to curtail the spread of the COVID‐19 infection including short‐ to medium‐term lockdowns, voluntary home curfew, restriction on the assembly of groups of people, cancellation of planned social and public events, closure of mass transit systems, and other travel restrictions.

The aim of this review was to identify the psychosocial impact of natural disasters on adult (over the age of 18 years) survivors. Databases searched included PsycInfo, CINAHL, Proquest, Ovid SP, Scopus, and Science Direct. The search was limited to articles written in English and published between 2002 and 2012. A total of 1,642 abstracts and articles were obtained during the first search; 39 articles were retained. The results indicate that PTSD is the most-studied psychosocial impact after a disaster. Mental health nurses have a significant role to play in supporting survivors and can assist with the development of resilience in community members.