Group Protocol to Mitigate Disaster Stress and Enhance Social Support in Adolescents Exposed to Hurricane Hugo

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Abstract
Literature reports that cognitive understanding and social support can mitigate stress in both adults and adolescents. As a subcomponent of the Carolina Adolescent Health Project (CAHP), this research evaluated the efficacy of a Cognitive Social Support (CSS) group protocol designed to mitigate the disaster stress of adolescents who had been exposed seriously to Hurricane Hugo. A purposive sample of 259 students participated in and evaluated the CSS. This article reports the specific structure, content, process, rationale, and cost of the CSS. Evaluations indicated that 82 % of the students evaluated the small-group component of the CSS as “very good” or “excellent,” while 70% rated the large-group component as “very good” or “excellent.”