Caroline Mcdonald‐harker
Biographic Data
| ID | 4269862 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Caroline Mcdonald‐harker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Caroline |
| FAMILY NAME | Mcdonald‐harker |
| SIGNATURE | HARKER C M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Mount Royal University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6481-448X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Adaptive Parenting in the Disaster Context
Disasters produce significant challenges for families, including physical, social, financial, and emotional difficulties. This creates situations of risk, vulnerability, and instability for families. Yet, little research examines parenting in the context of disasters, despite their increasing prevalence and occurrence globally. This study examines the short- and long-term impacts of the 2013 Southern Alberta, Canada flood on parenting, using qual…
Holding together after disaster
We Need to Do Something About This
Research is increasingly uncovering the many ways that individuals affected by disasters change their environmental views in response to their direct experience of such catastrophic events. There is a growing body of research that focuses on adults' environmental views, revealing that they often remain complacent toward environmental problems even after experiencing a disaster. However, very little research examines whether and to what extent chi…
Nurturing Spiritual Resilience to Promote Post-disaster Community Recovery
The 2016 Alberta wildfire, the largest insured natural disaster in Canada, led to a mass evacuation of residents of Fort McMurray, a small city in northern Alberta. The wildfire resulted in significant damages to housing and community infrastructure. The entire community was displaced for several weeks. Post-disaster, community members experienced individual and collective trauma, and other negative mental health impacts in response to the signif…
Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster
Children and youth are among the most vulnerable to the devastating effects of disaster due to the physical, cognitive, and social factors related to their developmental life stage. Yet children and youth also have the capacity to be resilient and act as powerful catalysts for change in their own lives and wider communities following disaster. Specific factors that contribute to resilience in children and youth, however, remain relatively unexplo…
Mental Health Symptoms Unexpectedly Increased in Students Aged 11–19 Years During the 3.5 Years After the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire
In Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, the wildfire of May 2016 forced the population of 88,000 to rapidly evacuate in a traumatic and chaotic manner. Ten percentage of the homes in the city were destroyed, and many more structures were damaged. Since youth are particularly vulnerable to negative effects of natural disasters, we examined possible long-term psychological impacts. To assess this, we partnered with Fort McMurray Public and Catholic Scho…
Collective Trauma and Mental Health in Adolescents
In the wake of the massive Canadian wildfire of May 2016 in the area of Fort McMurray Alberta, we observed increased rates of mental health problems, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in school-aged adolescents (ages 11-19). Surprisingly, we did not see these rates decline over the 3.5-year follow-up period. Additionally, our research suggested that the impact of this mass incident resulted in other unanticipated effects, includ…
Model of Post-traumatic Growth in Newly Traumatized vs. Retraumatized Adolescents
Background: In our analysis of adolescents affected by the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, we observed many negative mental health effects in individuals with a prior history of psychological trauma. Elevated rates of depression and markers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were observed, consistent with the hypothesis that prior trauma may reduce sensitivity thresholds for later psychopathology (stress sensitization). Surprisingly, levels of…
A Strength-based Approach to Exploring Factors that Contribute to Resilience Among Children and Youth Impacted by Disaster
Children and youth are among the most vulnerable to the detrimental effects of disaster due to their unique physical, cognitive and psychological life stage. Despite their increased vulnerability, children and youth also demonstrate resilience when faced with the adverse circumstances of disasters, and can act as important catalysts for change in their families and communities. This article discusses research conducted with eighty-three children …
Significant PTSD and Other Mental Health Effects Present 18 Months After the Fort Mcmurray Wildfire
Background: The May 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada forced evacuation of the population of 88,000 individuals and destroyed 10% of the homes. Youth are particularly impacted by disaster. Methods: Eighteen months after the wildfire, Fort McMurray Public and Catholic Schools surveyed 3,252 of the 4,407 students in Grades 7-12 to determine possible long-term psychological impacts. The survey included validated measurement scales for …
The River Is Not the Same Anymore”
Even when individuals are aware of and well educated about environmental issues such as climate change, they often take little action to mitigate these problems. Yet, catastrophic events, such as disasters, have the potential to rupture or disrupt complacency toward environmental problems, forcing people to consider the potential effects of human activity on the environment as they expose how environmentally harmful practices put people at risk. …
The River Is Not the Same Anymore”
Even when individuals are aware of and well educated about environmental issues such as climate change, they often take little action to mitigate these problems. Yet, catastrophic events, such as disasters, have the potential to rupture or disrupt complacency toward environmental problems, forcing people to consider the potential effects of human activity on the environment as they expose how environmentally harmful practices put people at risk. …
A Strength-based Approach to Exploring Factors that Contribute to Resilience Among Children and Youth Impacted by Disaster
Children and youth are among the most vulnerable to the detrimental effects of disaster due to their unique physical, cognitive and psychological life stage. Despite their increased vulnerability, children and youth also demonstrate resilience when faced with the adverse circumstances of disasters, and can act as important catalysts for change in their families and communities. This article discusses research conducted with eighty-three children …
The River Is Not the Same Anymore”
Even when individuals are aware of and well educated about environmental issues such as climate change, they often take little action to mitigate these problems. Yet, catastrophic events, such as disasters, have the potential to rupture or disrupt complacency toward environmental problems, forcing people to consider the potential effects of human activity on the environment as they expose how environmentally harmful practices put people at risk. …
Significant PTSD and Other Mental Health Effects Present 18 Months After the Fort Mcmurray Wildfire
Background: The May 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada forced evacuation of the population of 88,000 individuals and destroyed 10% of the homes. Youth are particularly impacted by disaster. Methods: Eighteen months after the wildfire, Fort McMurray Public and Catholic Schools surveyed 3,252 of the 4,407 students in Grades 7-12 to determine possible long-term psychological impacts. The survey included validated measurement scales for …
Nurturing Spiritual Resilience to Promote Post-disaster Community Recovery
The 2016 Alberta wildfire, the largest insured natural disaster in Canada, led to a mass evacuation of residents of Fort McMurray, a small city in northern Alberta. The wildfire resulted in significant damages to housing and community infrastructure. The entire community was displaced for several weeks. Post-disaster, community members experienced individual and collective trauma, and other negative mental health impacts in response to the signif…
Social-Ecological Factors Associated With Higher Levels of Resilience in Children and Youth After Disaster
Children and youth are among the most vulnerable to the devastating effects of disaster due to the physical, cognitive, and social factors related to their developmental life stage. Yet children and youth also have the capacity to be resilient and act as powerful catalysts for change in their own lives and wider communities following disaster. Specific factors that contribute to resilience in children and youth, however, remain relatively unexplo…
Mental Health Symptoms Unexpectedly Increased in Students Aged 11–19 Years During the 3.5 Years After the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire
In Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, the wildfire of May 2016 forced the population of 88,000 to rapidly evacuate in a traumatic and chaotic manner. Ten percentage of the homes in the city were destroyed, and many more structures were damaged. Since youth are particularly vulnerable to negative effects of natural disasters, we examined possible long-term psychological impacts. To assess this, we partnered with Fort McMurray Public and Catholic Scho…
Collective Trauma and Mental Health in Adolescents
In the wake of the massive Canadian wildfire of May 2016 in the area of Fort McMurray Alberta, we observed increased rates of mental health problems, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in school-aged adolescents (ages 11-19). Surprisingly, we did not see these rates decline over the 3.5-year follow-up period. Additionally, our research suggested that the impact of this mass incident resulted in other unanticipated effects, includ…
Model of Post-traumatic Growth in Newly Traumatized vs. Retraumatized Adolescents
Background: In our analysis of adolescents affected by the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, we observed many negative mental health effects in individuals with a prior history of psychological trauma. Elevated rates of depression and markers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were observed, consistent with the hypothesis that prior trauma may reduce sensitivity thresholds for later psychopathology (stress sensitization). Surprisingly, levels of…
A Strength-based Approach to Exploring Factors that Contribute to Resilience Among Children and Youth Impacted by Disaster
Children and youth are among the most vulnerable to the detrimental effects of disaster due to their unique physical, cognitive and psychological life stage. Despite their increased vulnerability, children and youth also demonstrate resilience when faced with the adverse circumstances of disasters, and can act as important catalysts for change in their families and communities. This article discusses research conducted with eighty-three children …
We Need to Do Something About This
Research is increasingly uncovering the many ways that individuals affected by disasters change their environmental views in response to their direct experience of such catastrophic events. There is a growing body of research that focuses on adults' environmental views, revealing that they often remain complacent toward environmental problems even after experiencing a disaster. However, very little research examines whether and to what extent chi…
Holding together after disaster
Adaptive Parenting in the Disaster Context
Disasters produce significant challenges for families, including physical, social, financial, and emotional difficulties. This creates situations of risk, vulnerability, and instability for families. Yet, little research examines parenting in the context of disasters, despite their increasing prevalence and occurrence globally. This study examines the short- and long-term impacts of the 2013 Southern Alberta, Canada flood on parenting, using qual…
Psychology (9 works) · Resilience and Mental Health (8 works) · Psychiatry (7 works) · Geography (6 works) · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research (6 works) · Psychological resilience (6 works) · Clinical Psychology (5 works) · Flood myth (5 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Mental health (5 works)