Volunteering in the aftermath of disasters: Psychopathology and volunteer management Þor

284 Pages·2017·5.18 MB·English

UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository)
Volunteering in the aftermath of disasters: Psychopathology and volunteer
management
Þormar, S.B.
Publication date
2015
Document Version
Final published version
Link to publication
Citation for published version (APA):
Þormar, S. B. (2015). Volunteering in the aftermath of disasters: Psychopathology and
volunteer management. [Thesis, fully internal, Universiteit van Amsterdam].
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Download date:19 Mar 2023
V
O INVITATION to
L
attend the public
U
N defence of the
T
E dissertation titled:
E
R
I
N
Sigridur Bjork Thormar completed her Bachelor of Science G
VOLUNTEERING
degree in nursing to become a registered nurse in 1994. I
N
She worked in the area of emergency services for 7 years T VOLUNTEERING IN THE AFTERMATH
H
both as a nurse in the emergency unit at the Landspitali
E OF DISASTERS
University Hospital in her birth town of Reykjavik, Iceland A IN THE AFTERMATH
F
and as a teacher in the school for paramedics in Reykjavík. T
E OF DISASTERS PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
R
M AND ORGANIZATIONAL
She took on the role of a national co-ordinator for first
A
MANAGEMENT
aid and psychosocial services at the Icelandic Red Cross T
H
where she was responsible for the continuous training of O
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY BY
F
the Icelandic public, various professional groups working in

D AND VOLUNTEER SIGRIDUR BJORK THORMAR
emergency services, teachers and pool and sports hall staff. I
S
A MANAGEMENT
In 1999 she started her psychology studies for BA in psycho-
S on Wednesday May 27th
logy at the University of Iceland and finished her Masters T
E at 12:00 in the Agnietenkapel
degree in Health Psychology at Leiden University in 2003. R
S SIGRÍÐUR BJÖRK ÞORMAR of the University of Amsterdam

Oudezijds Voorburgwal 229-231,
Sigridur has been a delegate for the International Federation
S
Amsterdam
I
of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for G
R
15 years and has trained in the area of psychosocial support Í
Ð Immediately after the defence,
in over 25 countries around the world. Sigridur was the main U
R there will be a reception at the
author on the IFRC training material for training of trainers
B
Amsterdamse Academische
for Community based Psychosocial Support and is one of the J
Ö
Club, Oudezijds Achterburgwal
main consultants for the IFRC Reference Center for Psycho- R
K 235, Amsterdam
social support. She has conducted assessments for the IFRC
Þ
O
and developed program plans for national societies after
R
some of the major critical incidents or disasters of recent M
A
time e.g. the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia, the 2010 Haiti
R
Sigridur Bjork Thormar
earthquake and the 2012 Uganda Ebola outbreak.
Drie Octoberstraat 39 A
2313 ZM Leiden
[email protected]
Currently Sigridur has her own practice in Reykjavik as well
Paranimfen
as working on humanitarian assignments as a member of
Chris Verhoeven
the IFRC Emergency Response Unit roster for health and [phone]
[email protected]
psychosocial support.
Sigurdur Hrannar Bjornsson
[phone]
[email protected]
Volunteering in the
aftermath of disasters
Psychopathology and volunteer management
Sigríður Björk Þormar
Voor mijn twee geweldige zoons Sigurður Hrannar en Tómas Atli 
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ISBN 978-94-6259-669-6
Cover design by Rán Flygenring
Design of invitation card by Rán Flygenring
Layout by Guðrún Ó Axelsdóttir
Printed by Ipskampdrukkers BV
© 2015
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Volunteering in the aftermath of disasters 
Psychopathology and volunteer management 
ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT 
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor 
 aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam 
 op gezag van de Rector Magnificus 
prof. dr. D. C. van den Boom 
ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, 
in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel 
 op woensdag 27 mei 2015, te 12:00 uur 
door Sigríður Björk Þormar geboren te Reykjavík, IJsland
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Promotiecommissie 
Promotores:  Prof. dr. B.P.R. Gersons    Universiteit van Amsterdam 
    Prof. dr. M.Olff      Universiteit van Amsterdam 

Copromotor:  Dr. Thorlakur Karlsson    Reykjavik University 

Overige leden:  Prof. dr. E. Schadé    Universiteit van Amsterdam 
Prof. dr. C. Breederveld     Universiteit van Amsterdam 
Prof. dr. F. W. van der Waals  Universiteit van Amsterdam 
Prof. dr. H. B. Valdimarsdóttir  Reykjavik University 
Prof. dr. M. H. J. Bekker    Universiteit van Tilburg 
Prof. dr. R. J. Kleber     Universiteit Utrecht 

Faculteit der Geneeskunde 

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Table of Contents 
Chapter 1   Introduction  .......................................................................................  7 
Chapter 2    The mental health impact of volunteering in a disaster setting:  
A review  ...........................................................................................  45 
Chapter 3   Organisational factors and mental health in community volunteers.  
The role of exposure, preparation, training, tasks assigned  
and support.  ....................................................................................  79 
Chapter 4   The impact of disaster work on community volunteers: The role of 
peritraumatic distress, level of personal affectedness, sleep  
quality and resource loss, on post‐traumatic stress disorder  
symptoms and subjective health.  ..................................................  113 
Chapter 5   Latent growth mixture model analysis of PTSD symptoms in disaster 
volunteers. The role of self‐efficacy, social acknowledgement  
and tasks carried out.  ....................................................................  139 
Chapter 6   Post‐disaster Psychosocial Support and Quality Improvement:  
A Conceptual Framework for Understanding and Improving  
the Quality of Psychosocial Support Programs.  .............................  167 
Chapter 7   General conclusions and discussion.  .............................................  189 
Summary    .............................................................................................................225 
Samenvatting (Dutch summary)  ..........................................................................  237 
Appendix 1   ..........................................................................................................  250 
Acknowledgements    ...........................................................................................  253 
Dankwoord   ........................................................................................................  263 
Curriculum Vitae    ................................................................................................  273 

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Chapter 1 Introduction 

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How it all started 
Working as a delegate for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent 
(IFRC) for the last 15 years has brought me to places and situations most people will 
never be able to experience. Some of these experiences have been horrifying beyond 
the scope of my imagination and others have been enriching, joyful, meaningful and 
inspirational. On each and every one of these missions, I have had the pleasure to 
work with humanitarian volunteers and experience their dedication in extreme 
circumstances, as well as their resilience and concerns.  
This dissertation is borne out of my personal experience as a delegate in January of 
2005, after I was sent, with short notice, to Banda Aceh in Indonesia after the Asian 
Tsunami hit its coast early on the morning of the 26th of December 2004. My task on 
this mission was to provide psychosocial support training to Indonesian psychologists 
and volunteers. Upon arrival in Banda Aceh all I could see was endless devastation, 
except for the pockets of nature that remarkably endured through forces of its own. 
Palm trees were sticking out in areas where there used to be neighborhoods, houses, 
schools, community buildings. All I could see now was rubbish, water and personal 
belongings scattered around, with people picking them up in the hope they may 
belong to them. Children were wandering about unaccompanied and scared of 
incoming strangers speaking a foreign language. There were body bags, bodies without 
bags and human limbs out of place in the middle of a pile of rubbish in the burning 
heat. The trash services were not working and trash kept piling up. There were many 
aid packages, with nowhere to go except to be left on the ground. The water and 
sanitation system had collapsed and the toilets that once flushed were now 
overflowing and the stench from all this overwhelmed me. 
One morning I was taking a short rest and watching all the hard working young people, 
carrying out difficult tasks. Although I had always worked with volunteers before, this 
time due to the extensiveness of the disaster, they were very visible; they were 
everywhere, thousands of them. They walked around with limited equipment, vests 
that identified them as Red Cross volunteers, wearing dirty, torn facemasks or covering 
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