High-intensity disaster can harm psychological functioning. Could moderate-intensity disaster improve psychological and attachment functioning through its effects on social functioning? We used a prospective quasi-experimental cohort design to investigate this possibility among college students. Hurricane cohort participants (N = 209) completed assessments before, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks after Hurricane Sandy. Two matched comparison cohorts (Ns > 140) were assessed 4 months and 1 year later. The hurricane cohort, in contrast to matched comparison cohorts, reported increased social support, reduced global distress, reduced negative emotion, and reduced attachment avoidance at the end of the semester. Increased social support mediated the relationship between hurricane cohort and reduced global distress, negative emotion, attachment avoidance, and attachment anxiety, and increased positive emotion and self-esteem at 6 weeks poststorm. The results suggest moderate disaster exposure can benefit short-term social, psychological, and attachment functioning, underscoring the critical role of the social context in stress adaptation.

高强度灾难会损害心理功能。中等强度的灾难能否通过对社会功能的影响来改善心理和依恋功能？我们使用前瞻性准实验队列设计来调查大学生的这种可能性。飓风队列参与者 ( N = 209) 在飓风桑迪之前、2 周和 6 周后完成了评估。两个匹配的比较队列（Ns > 140) 在 4 个月和 1 年后进行评估。与匹配的对照组相比，飓风组在学期末报告增加了社会支持、减少了全球痛苦、减少了负面情绪和减少了依恋回避。增加的社会支持介导了飓风队列与减少全球痛苦、消极情绪、依恋回避和依恋焦虑之间的关系，并在风暴后 6 周增加了积极情绪和自尊。结果表明，适度的灾害暴露有益于短期的社会、心理和依恋功能，强调了社会环境在压力适应中的关键作用。