Short-Term Psychological Outcomes of Australia's 2019/20 Bushfire Season

Objective: We investigated how Australian community members (N = 318) indirectly and/or directly exposed to Australia's 2019/20 bushfire season differed in terms of psychological distress, posttraumatic growth, coping, physical health, and COVID-19 anxiety. Method: This was a cross-sectional study with a nonequivalent groups design. Participants were over 18 years old, English proficient, and Australian permanent residents or citizens living in Australia at some point between June 2019 and February 2020. Participants completed a 10-minute anonymous online survey 5 to 8 weeks following the bushfires. Results: A descriptive discriminant analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between bushfire exposure groups when considering our dependent variables of interest simultaneously and adjusting for prior mental health assistance and prior exposure to natural disasters: F(10, 624) = 2.83, p = .002; V = .087, partial eta(2) = .043. The group centroid for the indirect-only exposure group (-.374) was substantially lower than that for the other 2 groups (direct only: .137; direct + indirect: .224), indicating that the indirect-only exposure group could be differentiated by the fact that they more frequently reported avoidant coping strategies and endorsed lower posttraumatic growth scores than the direct-only and direct + indirect exposure groups. The variance accounted for by these discriminant variables was 8.4%, indicating a very small effect. Conclusion: Our results point to a need to tailor and/or expand disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts such that they might benefit community members both directly and indirectly exposed to bushfire events in Australia. Clinical Impact Statement Results show that Australia's 2019/20 bushfire season has had detrimental psychological impacts for people directly and indirectly exposed to this event, and that those indirectly exposed could be differentiated by more frequent reports of avoidant coping strategies and lower posttraumatic growth scores. This new knowledge equips professionals working in the disaster response and recovery space with a clearer understanding of the short-term psychological outcomes of this event. Recognizing these impacts could guide a more inclusive disaster management strategy at a community level and highlights the need for government-lead mental health responses to be inclusive of indirectly exposed community members.