Holding together after disaster: The role of social skills in strengthening family cohesion and resilience

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• Author: Eva A. Bogdan,Caroline McDonald‐Harker,Emilie M. Bassi,Timothy J. Haney
• Date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12791

RESEARCH

Holding together after disaster: The role of social

skills in strengthening family cohesion and resilience

Eva A. Bogdan

1

|Caroline McDonald-Harker

2

|Emilie M. Bassi

3

|

Timothy J. Haney

2

1

Disaster and Emergency Management, School

of Administrative Studies, York University,

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

2

Department of Sociology & Anthropology,

Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta,

Canada

3

Department of Resource Economics and

Environmental Sociology, University of

Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Correspondence

Caroline McDonald-Harker, Department of

Sociology & Anthropology, Mount Royal

University, 4825 Mount Royal Gate, SW,

Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T3E 6K6.

Email: cmcdonaldharker@mtroyal.ca

Funding information

This study was supported by a Partnership

Development Grant from the Social Sciences

and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of

Canada under Grant 890-2013-0135 and a

research grant from the Institute for

Environmental Sustainability at Mount Royal

University. The authors gratefully

acknowledge this generous financial support.

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated how a flooding disaster

impacted family cohesion and resilience.

Background: Disasters present challenges for families,

often threatening family cohesion. Although there is exten-

sive research on the impacts of disasters on mental health

at the individual level, less is known about how family

units recover from disasters, and how parental relationship

dynamics and parent–child dynamics influence family

functioning during and after such traumatic events.

Method: Qualitative face-to-face interviews were conducted

1 year after the 2013 southern Alberta flood with 105 parents

of children ages 17 years and under.

Results: Findings reveal that families who experienced more loss

were not necessarily more negatively impacted overall. Some

families reported the flood caused them to grow further apart,

whereas for others it brought them closer together. Those who

reported that the flood brought them closer together demon-

strated the following three main social skills: (a) communication,

(b) conflict resolution, and (c) coping. Findings also reveal

that families have higher levels of cohesiveness and resilience

post-disaster when they exhibit these important skills.

Conclusion: This research concludes that coming together

as a family unit created a supportive space for families to

process and reduce the stress generated by the flood event.

Families who demonstrate and practice communication,

conflict resolution, and coping in the face of challenging

events like disasters are more cohesive and resilient.

Author note: The authors would like to thank the participants who generously shared their time by taking part in the study. The authors

extend thanks to the numerous nonprofit organizations who were collaborators on the project: Bow Valley College, Town of High

River, Alberta Health Services, High River Family and Community Support Services, High River Parent Link Centre, Hearts and

Minds High River, Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, Hull Services, Rowan House Emergency Shelter, Foothills Fetal Alcohol

Society, Foothills School Division, and Christ the Redeemer Catholic School Division. The authors would also like to thank the team of

dedicated research assistants: Alex Christison, Emilie Bassi, Kathryn Wells, Zachary Cox, Kaylea Schwengler, Imogene Roulson, Sylvia

Ulatowski, and Kassandra Jones. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Received: 24 August 2021Revised: 7 September 2022Accepted: 4 October 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12791

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

2194 Family Relations. 2023;72:2194–2214.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

Implications: Understanding how key social skills influence

family members’functioning post-disaster in terms of

cohesion and resilience provides important insight into

strategies, services, and resources that can be adopted and

utilized to support families in disaster contexts.

KEYWORDS

disaster, family communication & interaction, family relationships,

family strengths, stress & coping

INTRODUCTION

Disaster risks are on the rise globally, leaving communities to struggle with a range of social, eco-

nomic, environmental, educational, and health impacts. Most disaster research, however, has

focusedonmentalhealthattheindividuallevel. A growing number of researchers have examined

the impacts of disasters on families, although lessisknownabouthowfamiliesrecoverasaunit

(Botey & Kulig, 2014). Furthermore, less is known about family dynamics and the specific tech-

niques that parents employ to care for, support, and assist children and each other in coping,

readjusting, and establishing a new normal after a disaster (Enarson & Scanlon, 1999). Family func-

tioning enables families to operate as a unit day to day, and involves roles, routines, communication,

and connections that are influenced by wider structural and interactional characteristics of the fam-

ily unit (Epstein et al., 1983). One important element of family functioning is cohesion: in other

words, closeness, emotional bonding, or supportive interactions (Barber & Buelher, 1996, p. 433).

Cohesion is a key interactional process that enables families to be resilient, that is, to rebound from

adverse experiences like disasters. Although family cohesion in general is well understood, less is

known about specific factors that contribute to family cohesion and resilience after disasters.

To provide a more in-depth examination of family recovery, this article examines family func-

tioning among families who experienced the 2013Southern Alberta flood to gain insight into

how families communicate, interact, andcope after experiencing a disaster. Through qualitative

in-depth interviewswith 105 parents of children ages 17 years and under, we explored factors that

contributed to family functioning post-disaster, with a specific focus on parental relationship

dynamics and parent–child dynamics. The findings reveal that families who experienced more loss

were not necessarily more negatively impacted overall in termsofstress and conflict. Some fami-

lies reported that the flood caused them to grow further apart, whereas others reported coming

closer together. In this article we focus on emotional, psychological, and relational impacts of

disasters and the findings from families who reported coming closer together as a result of the

flood. The findingsindicate that families who stated that the flood brought them closer together

demonstrated and practiced three main social skills: (a) communication, (b) conflict resolution,

and (c) coping. We investigate whether families have higher levels of cohesiveness and resilience

as a unit post-disaster when they demonstrate and practice these important social skills, which

would point to the need for resources that support not just the individual, but the family as a unit

by strengthening these skills.

LITERATURE REVIEW: FAMILIES IN DISASTER CONTEXTS

Familial experience of disasters

Focusing on the impact of disaster on the family is important as disasters produce “non-

normative stress”(Lindgaard et al., 2009, p. 102) due to their unexpectedness. Research

FAMILY COHESION AND RESILIENCE POST-DISASTER2195