We can help us: Does Community Resilience Buffer Against the Negative Impact of
Flooding on Mental Health?
Abstract. Empirical evidence on the relationship between social support and post-disaster mental health provides support for a general beneficial effect of social support (main-effect model; Wheaton, 1985). From a theoretical perspective, a buffering effect of social support on the relationship between disaster-related stress and mental health also seems plausible (stress-buffering-model; ibid.). Previous studies however a) have paid less attention to the buffering effect of social support and b) they have mainly relied on interpersonal support (but not collective-level support such as community resilience) when investigating this issue. This work might has underestimated the effect of support on post-disaster mental health. Building on a sample of residents in Germany recently affected by flooding (N = 118), we show that community resilience to flooding (but not general interpersonal social support) buffered against the negative effects of flooding on post-disaster mental health. The results support the stress-buffering model and call for a more detailed look at the relationship between support/resilience and post-disaster adjustment, including collective-level variables.