A qualitative study of the impact of hurricane Maria on university students within a colonial context
Resumo
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, deeply affecting university students who had to balance academic demands with recovery efforts. This study, based on a qualitative phenomenological approach with 13 participants, explored their experiences through the lens of social determinants of health (SDOH) and the colonial context. Thematic analysis revealed losses, resource scarcity, academic stress, limited access to health and education, economic instability, anxiety, socio-political neglect, and community resistance. Findings show how colonial legacies magnify disaster impact, underscoring the need for equitable policies addressing both immediate recovery and systemic inequalities.
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Keywords
References
Allen, J., Balfour, R., Bell, R., & Marmot, M. (2014). Social determinants of mental health. International Review of Psychiatry, 26(4), 392-407.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09540261.2014.928270
Associated Press. (2017, March 28). Thousands of university students go on strike in Puerto Rico.
https://apnews.com/article/6467dd2c01b54780b71821e77b2f2279
Benach, J., Díaz, M. R., Muñoz, N. J., Martínez-Herrera, E., & Pericàs, J. M. (2019). What the Puerto Rican hurricanes make visible: Chronicle of a public health disaster foretold. Social Science and Medicine, 238, 112367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112367
Bonilla-Santiago, G., Calero, H., Garcia, W, Closter, M, & Westley-Henson, K. (2018). Weathering the storm- Challenges for PR’s higher education system (Research report). H. Galeno Consulting Group Inc. https://bonilla-santiago.camden.rutgers.edu/files/Weathering-the-Storm-PDF.pdf
Brusi, R., & Godreau I. (2019). Dismantling public education in Puerto Rico. In Y. Bonilla & M. LeBrón (Eds.), Aftershocks of disaster: Puerto Rico before and after the storm (pp. 234–250). Haymarket Books.
Caban, P. (2005). Puerto Rico, colonialism in. Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Faculty Scholarship, 19.
Cabrera, E. (2019). Hurricane Maria: A qualitative study of recently displaced students to the state of Florida (Publication No. 6458) [Master’s thesis, University of Central Florida]. Electronic Theses and Dissertations.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/6458/
Calianos, A. (2018). Climate change, colonialism, and second-class citizenry: A case study of the impacts of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico. Senior Honors Projects, Paper 676.
Capo, K., Espinoza, L., Khadam-Hir, J., & Paz, D. (2019). Creating safe spaces for children’s voices to be heard: Supporting the psychosocial needs of children in times of trauma. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 40(1), 19-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2019.1578309
Cowen, J. (2024). The Privateers: How billionaires created a culture war and sold school vouchers. Harvard Educational Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. SAGE.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 1-32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Fortuna, L. R., Jimenez, A., & Porche, M. V. (2023). Climate events, displacement, and mental health—Uprooted. JAMA Psychiatry, 81(1), 5-6.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.3561
Gahman, L., Thongs, G., & Greenidge, A. (2021). Disaster, debt, and ‘underdevelopment’: The cunning of colonial-capitalism in the Caribbean. Development, 64, 112–118.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-021-00282-4
García, M. F., Hodges, J. C., Costas-Rodríguez, B., Maldonado-Molina, M., Schwartz, S. J., Pineros-Leano, M. F., Bates, M. M., Calderon, I., Taylor, M. M., Rodriguez, J., Brown, E. C., & Salas-Wright, C. P. (2024). Something lost, something gained: The trade-offs of Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria migrants. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 95(3), 247-259.
https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000782
Green E., & Cochrane E. (2018, May 1). In devastated Puerto Rico, universities get just a fraction of storm aid. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/us/politics/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-emergency-aid.html
Hambrick, E. P., Rubens, S. L., Vernberg, E. M., Jacobs, A. K., & Kanine, R. M. (2014). Towards successful dissemination of psychological first aid: A study of provider training preferences. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 41(2), 203-215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-013-9362-y
Hernández Ayala, J, J. (2024). Colonialism, hurricanes, and disaster capitalism: The case of Puerto Rico. Journal of Latin American Geography, 23(3), 244-252. https://doi.org/10.1353/lag.2024.a948103
Khan, S. N. (2014). Qualitative research method-phenomenology. Asian Social Science, 10(21), 298.
https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v10n21p298
Kousky, C. (2016). Impacts of natural disasters on children. Future of Children, 26(1), 73-92.
https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2016.0004
Lafarga Previdi, I., & Vélez Vega, C. M. (2020). Health disparities research framework adaptation to reflect Puerto Rico's socio-cultural context. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8544. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228544
Martin, J. N., & Pace, T. W. W. (2025). Colonialism as a social determinant of health in Puerto Rico: Using the socioecological model to examine how the Jones Act impacted health after Hurricane María. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 36(1), 8-15.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10436596241274123
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2020). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (4th ed.). Sage.
Nelson, C. D., Prado Tuma, A., Marsh, T. A., Anderson, D. M., Whitaker, A. A., Karoly, L. A., Murphy, R. F., Nanda, N., Ryan, J. L., Smith, T. D., & Chandra, A. (2020). The education sector in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria: Predisaster conditions, hurricane damage, and themes for recovery. Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center, RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2858.html
Orengo-Aguayo, R., Stewart, R. W., de Arellano, M. A., Suárez-Kindy, J. L., & Young, J. (2019). Disaster exposure and mental health among Puerto Rican youths after Hurricane María. JAMA Network Open, 2(4), e192619.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.2619
Peón, H. (2020, November 22). It is 2020, and Puerto Rico is still a colony. Harvard Political Review.
https://harvardpolitics.com/puerto-rico-colony/
Pérez Ramos, J. G., Garriga-López, A., & Rodríguez-Díaz, C. E. (2022). How is colonialism a sociostructural determinant of health in Puerto Rico? AMA Journal of Ethics, 24(4), 305-312.
https://doi.org/10.1001/amajethics.2022.305
Porche, M. V., & Jiménez, A. (2021, May). The impact of Hurricane Maria on young adults in higher education [Conference presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Virtual.
Quijano, A. (2007). Coloniality and modernity/rationality. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 168–178.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601164353
Rivera Aponte, L. K. (2024). Power relations and its ripple effects in humanitarian aid: A study in the post-years of the aftermath of hurricane María in Puerto Rico [Master's thesis, University of South-Eastern Norway].
https://openarchive.usn.no/usn-xmlui/handle/11250/3139789?show=full
Rodríguez-Díaz, C. E. (2018). Maria in Puerto Rico: Natural disaster in a colonial archipelago. American Journal of Public Health, 108(1), 30-32.
https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304198
Rodríguez-Díaz, C. E., & Lewellen-Williams, C. (2020). Race and racism as structural determinants for emergency and recovery response in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico. Health Equity, 4(1), 232-238. https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2019.0103
Rodríguez-Joseph, S., Voyles, C., Williams, K.D., Smith, E., & Chilton, M. (2020). Colonial neglect and the right to health in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. American Journal of Public Health, 110(10), 305814.
https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2020.305814
Rodríguez-Madera, S. L., Varas-Díaz, N., Padilla, M., Grove, K., Rivera-Bustelo, K., Ramos, J., Contreras-Ramirez, V., Rivera-Rodríguez, S., Vargas-Molina, R., & Santini, J. (2021). The impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico’s health system: Post-disaster perceptions and experiences of health care providers and administrators. Global Health Research and Policy, 6, 44.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-021-00228-w
Rodriguez Vázquez, A. (2022). The impact of Hurricane María on the political participation of Puerto Rican University students in UPR Cayey. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35(8), 873-890.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2022.2061071
Saeed, S. A., & Gargano, S. P. (2022). Natural disasters and mental health. International Review of Psychiatry, 34(1), 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2022.2037524
Santiago, C. (2011, January 28). Puerto Rico: Violence continues as students engage in civil disobedience. Global Voices.
https://globalvoices.org/2011/01/28/puerto-rico-violence-continues-as-students-engage-in-civil-disobedience/
Serrano-García, I. (2020). Resilience, coloniality, and sovereign acts: The role of community activism. American Journal of Community Psychology, 65(1-2), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12415
Sherwood, D. A., VanDeusen, K., Diaconu, M., & Jones, C. (2022). The problem is that Puerto Rico does not have a say: Students' critical reflections on service-learning in post-Maria Puerto Rico. Advances in Social Work, 22(1), 197-218.
https://doi.org/10.18060/25255
Stukova, M., Cardona, G., Tormos, A., Vega, A., Burgos, G., Inostroza-Nieves, Y., & Carl, Y. (2023). Mental health and associated risk factors of Puerto Rico Post-Hurricane María. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 58(7), 1055-1063.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-023-02458-4
Szecsi, T., Aydin, H., & Giambo, D. (2021). Lived experiences of Puerto Rican university students displaced to South Florida after Hurricane Maria. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 18(2), 163-186. https://doi.org/10.1515/mlt-2020-0010
Torres, L. E. C., & Brooks, N. (2022). Interrupted: Puerto Rican college students and Post-Hurricane Maria communications. Centro Journal, 34(3), 33-52.
Weller, S. C., Vickers, B., Bernard, H. R., Blackburn, A. M., Borgatti, S., Gravlee, C. C., & Johnson, J. C. (2018). Open-ended interview questions and saturation. PLoS One, 13(6), e0198606. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198606
Williams, H. (2021). The meaning of “phenomenology”: Qualitative and philosophical phenomenological research methods. The Qualitative Report, 26(2), 366-385. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4587
Yordan-López , N. M., Hernandez-Suarez, D. F., Marrero-Ortiz, W., Marshall-Perez, L., & Lopez-Candales, A. (2018). Challenges and opportunities after Hurricane María: University of Puerto Rico medical students’ perspectives. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 10(4), 382–384. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-17-01024.1
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09540261.2014.928270
Associated Press. (2017, March 28). Thousands of university students go on strike in Puerto Rico.
https://apnews.com/article/6467dd2c01b54780b71821e77b2f2279
Benach, J., Díaz, M. R., Muñoz, N. J., Martínez-Herrera, E., & Pericàs, J. M. (2019). What the Puerto Rican hurricanes make visible: Chronicle of a public health disaster foretold. Social Science and Medicine, 238, 112367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112367
Bonilla-Santiago, G., Calero, H., Garcia, W, Closter, M, & Westley-Henson, K. (2018). Weathering the storm- Challenges for PR’s higher education system (Research report). H. Galeno Consulting Group Inc. https://bonilla-santiago.camden.rutgers.edu/files/Weathering-the-Storm-PDF.pdf
Brusi, R., & Godreau I. (2019). Dismantling public education in Puerto Rico. In Y. Bonilla & M. LeBrón (Eds.), Aftershocks of disaster: Puerto Rico before and after the storm (pp. 234–250). Haymarket Books.
Caban, P. (2005). Puerto Rico, colonialism in. Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Faculty Scholarship, 19.
Cabrera, E. (2019). Hurricane Maria: A qualitative study of recently displaced students to the state of Florida (Publication No. 6458) [Master’s thesis, University of Central Florida]. Electronic Theses and Dissertations.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/6458/
Calianos, A. (2018). Climate change, colonialism, and second-class citizenry: A case study of the impacts of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico. Senior Honors Projects, Paper 676.
Capo, K., Espinoza, L., Khadam-Hir, J., & Paz, D. (2019). Creating safe spaces for children’s voices to be heard: Supporting the psychosocial needs of children in times of trauma. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 40(1), 19-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2019.1578309
Cowen, J. (2024). The Privateers: How billionaires created a culture war and sold school vouchers. Harvard Educational Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. SAGE.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 1-32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Fortuna, L. R., Jimenez, A., & Porche, M. V. (2023). Climate events, displacement, and mental health—Uprooted. JAMA Psychiatry, 81(1), 5-6.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.3561
Gahman, L., Thongs, G., & Greenidge, A. (2021). Disaster, debt, and ‘underdevelopment’: The cunning of colonial-capitalism in the Caribbean. Development, 64, 112–118.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-021-00282-4
García, M. F., Hodges, J. C., Costas-Rodríguez, B., Maldonado-Molina, M., Schwartz, S. J., Pineros-Leano, M. F., Bates, M. M., Calderon, I., Taylor, M. M., Rodriguez, J., Brown, E. C., & Salas-Wright, C. P. (2024). Something lost, something gained: The trade-offs of Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria migrants. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 95(3), 247-259.
https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000782
Green E., & Cochrane E. (2018, May 1). In devastated Puerto Rico, universities get just a fraction of storm aid. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/us/politics/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-emergency-aid.html
Hambrick, E. P., Rubens, S. L., Vernberg, E. M., Jacobs, A. K., & Kanine, R. M. (2014). Towards successful dissemination of psychological first aid: A study of provider training preferences. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 41(2), 203-215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-013-9362-y
Hernández Ayala, J, J. (2024). Colonialism, hurricanes, and disaster capitalism: The case of Puerto Rico. Journal of Latin American Geography, 23(3), 244-252. https://doi.org/10.1353/lag.2024.a948103
Khan, S. N. (2014). Qualitative research method-phenomenology. Asian Social Science, 10(21), 298.
https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v10n21p298
Kousky, C. (2016). Impacts of natural disasters on children. Future of Children, 26(1), 73-92.
https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2016.0004
Lafarga Previdi, I., & Vélez Vega, C. M. (2020). Health disparities research framework adaptation to reflect Puerto Rico's socio-cultural context. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8544. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228544
Martin, J. N., & Pace, T. W. W. (2025). Colonialism as a social determinant of health in Puerto Rico: Using the socioecological model to examine how the Jones Act impacted health after Hurricane María. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 36(1), 8-15.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10436596241274123
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2020). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (4th ed.). Sage.
Nelson, C. D., Prado Tuma, A., Marsh, T. A., Anderson, D. M., Whitaker, A. A., Karoly, L. A., Murphy, R. F., Nanda, N., Ryan, J. L., Smith, T. D., & Chandra, A. (2020). The education sector in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria: Predisaster conditions, hurricane damage, and themes for recovery. Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center, RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2858.html
Orengo-Aguayo, R., Stewart, R. W., de Arellano, M. A., Suárez-Kindy, J. L., & Young, J. (2019). Disaster exposure and mental health among Puerto Rican youths after Hurricane María. JAMA Network Open, 2(4), e192619.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.2619
Peón, H. (2020, November 22). It is 2020, and Puerto Rico is still a colony. Harvard Political Review.
https://harvardpolitics.com/puerto-rico-colony/
Pérez Ramos, J. G., Garriga-López, A., & Rodríguez-Díaz, C. E. (2022). How is colonialism a sociostructural determinant of health in Puerto Rico? AMA Journal of Ethics, 24(4), 305-312.
https://doi.org/10.1001/amajethics.2022.305
Porche, M. V., & Jiménez, A. (2021, May). The impact of Hurricane Maria on young adults in higher education [Conference presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Virtual.
Quijano, A. (2007). Coloniality and modernity/rationality. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 168–178.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601164353
Rivera Aponte, L. K. (2024). Power relations and its ripple effects in humanitarian aid: A study in the post-years of the aftermath of hurricane María in Puerto Rico [Master's thesis, University of South-Eastern Norway].
https://openarchive.usn.no/usn-xmlui/handle/11250/3139789?show=full
Rodríguez-Díaz, C. E. (2018). Maria in Puerto Rico: Natural disaster in a colonial archipelago. American Journal of Public Health, 108(1), 30-32.
https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304198
Rodríguez-Díaz, C. E., & Lewellen-Williams, C. (2020). Race and racism as structural determinants for emergency and recovery response in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico. Health Equity, 4(1), 232-238. https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2019.0103
Rodríguez-Joseph, S., Voyles, C., Williams, K.D., Smith, E., & Chilton, M. (2020). Colonial neglect and the right to health in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. American Journal of Public Health, 110(10), 305814.
https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2020.305814
Rodríguez-Madera, S. L., Varas-Díaz, N., Padilla, M., Grove, K., Rivera-Bustelo, K., Ramos, J., Contreras-Ramirez, V., Rivera-Rodríguez, S., Vargas-Molina, R., & Santini, J. (2021). The impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico’s health system: Post-disaster perceptions and experiences of health care providers and administrators. Global Health Research and Policy, 6, 44.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-021-00228-w
Rodriguez Vázquez, A. (2022). The impact of Hurricane María on the political participation of Puerto Rican University students in UPR Cayey. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35(8), 873-890.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2022.2061071
Saeed, S. A., & Gargano, S. P. (2022). Natural disasters and mental health. International Review of Psychiatry, 34(1), 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2022.2037524
Santiago, C. (2011, January 28). Puerto Rico: Violence continues as students engage in civil disobedience. Global Voices.
https://globalvoices.org/2011/01/28/puerto-rico-violence-continues-as-students-engage-in-civil-disobedience/
Serrano-García, I. (2020). Resilience, coloniality, and sovereign acts: The role of community activism. American Journal of Community Psychology, 65(1-2), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12415
Sherwood, D. A., VanDeusen, K., Diaconu, M., & Jones, C. (2022). The problem is that Puerto Rico does not have a say: Students' critical reflections on service-learning in post-Maria Puerto Rico. Advances in Social Work, 22(1), 197-218.
https://doi.org/10.18060/25255
Stukova, M., Cardona, G., Tormos, A., Vega, A., Burgos, G., Inostroza-Nieves, Y., & Carl, Y. (2023). Mental health and associated risk factors of Puerto Rico Post-Hurricane María. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 58(7), 1055-1063.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-023-02458-4
Szecsi, T., Aydin, H., & Giambo, D. (2021). Lived experiences of Puerto Rican university students displaced to South Florida after Hurricane Maria. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 18(2), 163-186. https://doi.org/10.1515/mlt-2020-0010
Torres, L. E. C., & Brooks, N. (2022). Interrupted: Puerto Rican college students and Post-Hurricane Maria communications. Centro Journal, 34(3), 33-52.
Weller, S. C., Vickers, B., Bernard, H. R., Blackburn, A. M., Borgatti, S., Gravlee, C. C., & Johnson, J. C. (2018). Open-ended interview questions and saturation. PLoS One, 13(6), e0198606. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198606
Williams, H. (2021). The meaning of “phenomenology”: Qualitative and philosophical phenomenological research methods. The Qualitative Report, 26(2), 366-385. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4587
Yordan-López , N. M., Hernandez-Suarez, D. F., Marrero-Ortiz, W., Marshall-Perez, L., & Lopez-Candales, A. (2018). Challenges and opportunities after Hurricane María: University of Puerto Rico medical students’ perspectives. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 10(4), 382–384. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-17-01024.1
Como Citar
A qualitative study of the impact of hurricane Maria on university students within a colonial context. (2025). Revista Puertorriqueña De Psicologia, 36(2), 168-181. https://doi.org/10.55611/reps.3602.04
Seção
Artículo de investigación
Si se acepta un trabajo para su publicación, los derechos de impresión y de reproducción por cualquier forma y medio son de la Asociación de Psicología de Puerto Rico (APPR), que no rechazará cualquier petición razonable por parte de los autores para obtener el permiso de reproducción de sus contribuciones. Debe adjuntarse una carta tipo de cesión de derechos. Se entiende que las opiniones expresadas en los artículos son de responsabilidad exclusiva de los autores y no comprometen la opinión y política científica de la Revista ni de la APPR. Igualmente, las actividades descritas en los trabajos publicados estarán de acuerdo con los criterios de ética, tanto por lo que se refiere a los trabajos con humanos como a la experimentación animal, así como en todo lo relativo a la ética profesional.
Como Citar
A qualitative study of the impact of hurricane Maria on university students within a colonial context. (2025). Revista Puertorriqueña De Psicologia, 36(2), 168-181. https://doi.org/10.55611/reps.3602.04
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1614-9390