Positive effects of terrorism and posttraumatic growth: An individual and community perspective (original) (raw)

A longitudinal study of changes in psychological responses to continuous terrorism

The Israel journal of psychiatry and related sciences, 2013

The impact of ongoing terror over time has received little attention. This study assesses longitudinally prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress symptoms' trajectories, namely resistance, resilience, late-onset and chronicity in the course of intensive and ongoing terror. Two surveys were performed at a two-year interval among 153 Jewish Israeli adults. Results show probable PTSD prevalence, number of traumatic stress related symptoms (TSRS), and rate of severe posttraumatic symptomatology (PTSS) to increase over time (from 18.2% to 31.2%). With this, many (66.7% of those with PTSD and 39.3% of those with PTSS at wave 1) recovered. Late-onset of severe PTSS (19.6% of the sample) was predicted by income reduction, a major lifetime traumatic event, sense of threat, dissociation, coping via disengagement and low mood. Chronicity was predicted by sense of threat, pessimism, dissociation and disengagement. Continuous exposure to terror has a strong negative impact on mental...

Terrorism and post-traumatic stress disorder: a historical review

The Lancet Psychiatry, 2019

Terror is a psychological state. Historically, most studies of terrorism focused on its societal purpose and structural consequences rather than mental health effects. That emphasis began to change shortly before the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A vast expansion of research into post-traumatic stress disorder accompanied revisions to the classification of mental health disorders. The effect of terrorist incidents on those people now deemed vulnerable, both directly and indirectly, was actively sought. However, a review of more than 400 research articles (mostly published after Sept 11) on the association between terrorism and mental health reached the largely overlooked conclusion that terrorism is not terrorising-at least not in a way that causes a greater than expected frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder than other traumatic events. This conclusion is surprising given the emphasis on the psychological effects of terrorism in political discourse, media commentary, contemporary culture, and academic inquiry. Authorities might prefer to encourage an interpretation of terrorist incidents that highlights fortitude and courage rather than psychological vulnerability.

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AND RESILIENCE IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE AMMAN TERRORIST ATTACKS

Psychosocial, Organizational and Cultural Aspects of Terrorism, NATO RTG 140 Report, Anne Speckhard, Editor, 2011

Jordan has been the target of intended and actual terrorist attacks multiple times in the past fifteen years. Terrorist acts and their consequences represent one of the main challenges for Jordan as well for the wider world community which is also facing terrorism. The objective of terrorists is to strike fear into the community and thereby change the political process. Terrorists only gain their advantage when a community is harmed and gives in to fear. Therefore it is very important to understand what makes a community resilient to terrorism and for government and civil society to do everything possible to promote resilience to terrorism. In this paper resilience to terrorism is defined as the ability to cope with terrorism, remain adaptable and not lose significant life functioning (i.e., the ability to perform work, family, and other roles). In November of 2005, three simultaneous suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al Qaeda occurred in three separate hotels in Amman immediately killing sixty victims and injuring another one hundred fifteen, many of them seriously. In one hotel a wedding was taking place and the parents of the bride as well as many guests were killed. These attacks, although preceded by other attacks in Jordan, shocked the entire nation. The shock was that the targets were purely innocent civilians, unconnected to the government and the Muslim perpetrators felt justified to kill other Muslims. Jordanian civilians did not understand why al Qaeda would target them. Emergency services were provided and within three months of the accident, a time when acute stress responses should be calming in those who make a good adaption, a study of psycho-social responses among the victims was carried out. The objectives of this study were to: • Identify the psychosocial, and health impacts of terror acts on victims; • Identify the presence of post traumatic stress disorder and co morbidity disorders among victims; • Compare severity of (PTSD) symptoms among victims in two different periods of time (three months and six months after the event); and • Identify the types and sources of resilience among Jordanian citizens.

Mental health and resiliency following 44 months of terrorism: a survey of an Israeli national representative sample

2006

Background: Israeli citizens have been exposed to intense and ongoing terrorism since September 2000. We previously studied the mental health impact of terrorism on the Israeli population (Bleich et al., 2002), however the long-term impact of ongoing terrorism has not yet been examined. The present study evaluated the psychological sequelae of 44 months of terrorism in Israel, and sought to identify factors that may contribute to vulnerability and resilience. Methods: This was a telephone survey using strata sampling of 828 households, which reached a representative sample of 702 adult Israeli residents (84.8% contact rate). In total, 501 people (60.5%) agreed to participate. The methodology was similar to that of our previous study. Exposure to terrorism and other traumatic events, number of traumatic stress-related symptoms (TSRS), percentage of respondents with symptom criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic stress (TS) resiliency and feelings of depression, anxiety, optimism, sense of safety, and help-seeking were the main outcome measures. Results: In total, 56 participants (11.2%) were directly exposed to a terrorist incident, and 101 (20.2%) had family members or friends exposed. Respondents reported a mean ± SD of 5.0 ± 4.5 TSRS; 45 (9%) met symptom criteria for PTSD; and 72 (14.4%) were TS-resilient. There were 147 participants (29.5%) who felt depressed, 50 (10.4%) felt anxious, and almost half (235; 47%) felt life-threatening danger; 48 (9.7%) felt the need for professional help. Women and people of Arab ethnicity had more TSRS, more PTSD, and less TS resiliency. Injury following a life-threatening experience, a major stressful life event, and a major loss of income were associated with PTSD. Immigrant status, lower education, low sense of safety, low sense of social support, high societal distress, and injury following life-threatening experiences were associated with TSRS. TSRS did not increase with exposure severity. This study revealed less depression and functional impairment, similar rates of PTSD, increased help-seeking and poorer TSRS and TS resiliency than our initial study, 2 years previously. Discussion: The response of people in Israel to 4 years of terrorism is heterogeneous. Vulnerability factors change over time; Arab ethnicity, immigrant status and less education, not found to be risk factors in our previous study, were found in the present study to contribute to trauma-related distress. Prior experience of highly stressful events increases vulnerability to adverse psychological effects of terror.

Long-Term Posttraumatic Growth in Victims of Terrorism in Spain

Frontiers in Psychology, 2022

BackgroundScientific literature on posttraumatic growth (PTG) after terrorist attacks has primarily focused on persons who had not been directly exposed to terrorist attacks or persons who had been directly exposed to them, but who were assessed few months or years after the attacks.MethodsWe examined long-term PTG in 210 adults directly exposed to terrorist attacks in Spain a mean of 29.6 years after the attacks (range: 2–47 years). The participants had been injured by a terrorist attack (38.6%) or were first-degree relatives of people who had been killed or injured by a terrorist attack (41.4% and 20%, respectively). They completed diagnostic measures of emotional disorders and measures of PTSD and depression symptomatology, optimism, and PTG.ResultsMultiple regression analyses revealed gender differences (women reported higher levels of PTG than did men) and a positive linear relationship between PTG and cumulative trauma after the terrorist attack. Some PTG dimensions were signi...

Terrorism’s Impact on Mental Health Outcomes among Directly and Indirectly Exposed Victims and the Development of Psychopathology

Journal of Clinical Medicine

After the events of 9/11, many police-responders developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and were potentially vulnerable to developing depression and/or anxiety; in addition, nearly half of police with probable PTSD had comorbid depression and anxiety. Having in mind that victims who experience the effects of terrorism are exposed to high levels of psychological damage, we thus aimed to determine how sequelae of a terrorist act directly and indirectly affect victims. Quantitative synthesis findings were concluded on the basis of 200 records that met the inclusion criteria out of a total of 650. We grouped the patients according to their level of exposure to the WTC terrorist attack on 11 September 2001. The Level I group included individuals who had experienced the traumatic event and/or those who had observed the attack. The Level II group consisted of rescuers and/or persons who cleaned up debris in the area after the attack. The Level III group comprised the victims’ fami...

Trajectories of resilience, resistance, and distress during ongoing terrorism: The …

Journal of consulting …, 2009

This is the 1st longitudinal examination of trajectories of resilience and resistance (rather than ill-being) among a national sample under ongoing threat of mass casualty. The authors interviewed a nationally representative sample of Jews and Arabs in Israel (N ϭ 709) at 2 times during a period of terrorist and rocket attacks (2004 -2005). The resistance trajectory, exhibiting few or no symptoms of traumatic stress and depression at both time points, was substantially less common (22.1%) than has previously been documented in studies following single mass casualty events. The resilience trajectory, exhibiting initial symptoms and becoming relatively nonsymptomatic, was evidenced by 13.5% of interviewees. The chronic distress trajectory was documented among a majority of participants (54.0%), and a small proportion of persons were initially relatively symptom-free but became distressed (termed delayed distress trajectory; 10.3%). Less psychosocial resource loss and majority status (Jewish) were the most consistent predictors of resistance and resilience trajectories, followed by greater socioeconomic status, greater support from friends, and less report of posttraumatic growth.

Chapter 16 – PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AND RESILIENCE IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE AMMAN TERRORIST ATTACKS

Jordan has been the target of intended and actual terrorist attacks multiple times in the past fifteen years. Terrorist acts and their consequences represent one of the main challenges for Jordan as well for the wider world community which is also facing terrorism. The objective of terrorists is to strike fear into the community and thereby change the political process. Terrorists only gain their advantage when a community is harmed and gives in to fear. Therefore it is very important to understand what makes a community resilient to terrorism and for government and civil society to do everything possible to promote resilience to terrorism. In this paper resilience to terrorism is defined as the ability to cope with terrorism, remain adaptable and not lose significant life functioning (i.e., the ability to perform work, family, and other roles).

Inoculating Resilience to Terrorism: Acute and Posttraumatic Stress Responses in U.S. Military, Foreign & Civilian Services Serving Overseas After September 11th

Traumatology, 2002

American personnel living abroad were shocked and distressed as they viewed from afar the nearly live coverage of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the U.S. This paper is a report on six stress debriefings conducted by an American psychologist (at U.S. embassy and NATO facilities, SHAPE, and in the community) and informal research interviews (n=250) with American diplomats, military and civilian personnel posted in Brussels and surrounding vicinity, documenting their acute and posttraumatic responses to the attacks. Participants showed strong evidence of acute and posttraumatic stress responses including: dissociation, reexperience, avoidance, hyperarousal, loss of functioning, and both functional and dysfunctional coping responses. While a controlled study was not possible under the circumstances, valuable information was nonetheless collected. Based upon the anecdotal data and results of the interventions, suggestions are made for increasing resilience to this type of stress response should attacks or high threat levels continue.