This study investigates the long-term consequences for adolescents and young adults who experienced the January 12, 2010, earthquake that struck Haiti. It aims to evaluate the consequences of the earthquake in adolescents and young adults six years after the disaster. During May and June 2016, in Port-au-Prince, 723 adolescents and young adults (364 girls and young women) aged 14 to 24 were assessed by means the Impact of Event Scale–Revised (IES-R) in addition to social demographic characteristics. In our sample, 35.82% reported clinically significant symptoms of PTSD, with a higher prevalence for girls and young women. They also had consistently higher scores than boys and young men on every subscale. Participants with working parents had consistently higher scores across all the subscales than participants whose parents did not work. This study showed that, more than six years after the earthquake, more than one third of the participants assessed had severe PTSD symptoms. Our results may prove useful for setting up mental health programs and devising tools appropriate for the youth population in Haiti.

Background: In 2010, an important earthquake devastated Haiti and caused thousands of deaths. In a social context where women are particularly vulnerable, this cross-sectional study examined the associations between sexual assaults experienced by women before the earthquake, the earthquake exposure, the traumatic consequences, and their satisfaction of social support received.Methods: A total of 660 women aged 18 to 86 completed questionnaires assessing exposure to the earthquake, sexual assault victimization, peritraumatic distress, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and social support. A moderated moderation model was computed to examine associations between exposure to the earthquake, sexual assault, social support, and traumatic consequences.Results: Results showed that 31.06% of women were victims of sexual assault before the earthquake. They presented higher prevalence of peritraumatic distress, PTSD, and depression symptoms, compared to non-victims. The moderated-moderation model showed that sexual assault and exposure to the earthquake were positively associated with traumatic consequences (respectively, B = 0.560, p < 0.001; B = 0.196, p < 0.001), while social support was negatively associated with them (B = −0.095, p < 0.05). Results showed a triple interaction: women victim of sexual assault who were satisfied with received social support are less likely to develop traumatic consequences after being exposed to the earthquake(B = −0.141, p < 0.01).Conclusions: By demonstrating the role of sexual assault in the development of mental health problems after the Haitian earthquake, this study shows the importance for clinicians to investigate interpersonal trauma experienced before or following natural disasters among survivors. Results also indicate the key role of family and communities to help survivors build resilience and coping strategies with their social support.

This article forms part of a research project on the subject of resilience and the creative process in Haitian street children and adolescents who have been victims of natural disasters. A creative art group initiative was set up with street children in order to assess their ability to engage in creative activity and the extent to which such an activity could facilitate their reintegration into society, as well as offering an outlet for expressing their reactions to the various traumatic experiences they had undergone. Our working hypothesis was that the development of a relationship between the children, the artists, the workshop facilitators, and also with the context and creative process, could help to initiate a process of personal and cultural expression. It was also thought that the artists and workshop facilitators would provide substitute parental figures, who might act as catalysts in the children’s symbolisation process.

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, despite economic and relational precariousness, research noticed resilience among street children. This study assesses determinants of resilience among street children 4 years after the earthquake. One hundred twenty-eight street children aged 7–18 completed measures assessing life events, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), resilience, social support (SS), and depression. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 22. Results showed that resilience score was high, especially for those who faced economic issues. For those who faced intrafamilial and relational violence, resilience was less relevant. Resilience score increased with age and was correlated with satisfying SS. Traumatic events after the earthquake, depression, and SS satisfaction are the best predictors of resilience.

Not for the first time in recent history, the people of Haiti have been obliged to fall back on their resilience strategies in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Following the powerful earthquake that struck the country on 12 January 2010, the entire population had to find the resources to survive in the face of extensive material damage and loss of life: over 222 000 dead, more than 300 000 injured and between 4000 and 7000 amputees (UNDP, 2010).