RAPID: Surviving the Flood: Vulnerability, Risk Management, and Resilience after a Natural Disaster

自然灾害影响所有人口，但较贫穷的农村人口尤其脆弱。我们从大规模现代社会的研究中得知，更富裕、更健康、受教育程度更高的人对不良事件的适应能力更强。然而，在美国和全世界的大部分地区，仍然有人生活在贫困线或贫困线附近。自然灾害会把人们推入“贫困陷阱”，他们可能永远无法从中恢复过来。因此，了解促进受教育程度、物质财富和获得良好医疗保健机会有限的人群恢复能力的因素，对于制定保护所有美国人免受灾害长期影响的计划和政策至关重要。这项研究将在玻利维亚低地进行，那里在2014年初发生了灾难性的洪水。这是一个特别合适的研究环境，因为调查人员自2002年以来一直在这里进行研究。因此，他们有详细的、个人层面的基线数据来进行比较。他们还可以利用现有的基础设施和支持，这使得现在的少量资金可以产生重大的研究影响。研究人员将把重点放在以园艺、捕鱼和狩猎为基础的自给生活方式的提斯曼印第安人身上。2014年的洪水摧毁了60多个提斯曼村庄的庄稼和财产；预计随之而来的是广泛的粮食不安全和疾病。由于损失的程度，家庭和村庄之间的财富不平等可能已经大大减少。调查人员将评估参与当地市场经济、学校教育和社会关系是否有助于保护家庭免受洪水损失，以及这些因素是否有助于在恢复期间缓冲家庭。调查人员还将评估洪水前存在的财富不平等是否会在洪水一年后再次出现。调查人员将访问受影响的村庄，进行调查，收集有关健康、营养状况和活动的信息，并从唾液样本中测定应激激素。本研究的结果将通过考察社会从属关系、低人力资本和缺乏心理弹性对恢复工作和恢复福祉和经济生产力的影响程度，深入了解促进和延续贫困陷阱的因素。

Natural disasters impact all populations but poorer, rural populations are particularly vulnerable. We know from research in large-scale modern societies that wealthier, healthier, and more educated individuals have greater resilience to adverse events. However, in much of United States as well as in the world at large, there remain people living at or near the poverty line. Natural disasters can push people over that line into "poverty traps" from which they may never recover. Therefore, understanding factors that promote resilience in populations with limited schooling, material wealth, and access to good healthcare is critical for developing programs and policies that will protect all Americans from the long-term effects of disasters. The research will be conducted in lowland Bolivia where there was catastrophic flooding in early 2014. This is a particularly apt research setting because the investigators have done research in this site since 2002. Therefore, they have detailed, individual-level baseline data with which to make comparisons. They also can leverage existing infrastructure and support, which allows a small amount of funding now to produce significant research impact. The researchers will focus on the Tsimane Amerindians who practice a subsistence lifestyle based on horticulture, fishing, and hunting. The 2014 floods destroyed crops and possessions in over sixty Tsimane villages; widespread food insecurity and disease are expected to follow. Due to the extent of the losses, wealth inequality has likely been substantially reduced across households and villages. The investigators will assess whether involvement in the local market economy, schooling, and social connections helped protect families against the losses from the floods and whether these factors will help buffer families during the period of recovery. Investigators will also assess whether wealth inequalities that existed prior to the flood re-emerge one year after the flood. Investigators will visit affected villages, conduct surveys, collect information on health, nutritional status and activities, and assay stress hormones from salivary samples. Findings from this research will provide insight into the factors that promote and perpetuate poverty traps by examining the extent to which social subordination, low human capital and lack of psychological resilience impact recovery efforts and restoration of well-being and economic productivity.