Prevalence and Course of Symptom-Defined PTSD in Individuals Directly or Indirectly Exposed to Terror: A Longitudinal Study

Hansen, Marianne Bang; Birkeland, Marianne Skogbrott; Nissen, Alexander; Blix, Ines; Solberg, Øivind; Heir, Trond

doi:10.1080/00332747.2016.1230983

Cited by 29 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The data for this study were collected 10 months after the attack, in April/May 2012. All of the employees in 14 of the 17 Norwegian ministries were invited to participate in a research project titled ‘Mental health and work environment factors in the aftermath of the Oslo terrorist attack July 22nd, 2011’ (Hansen et al, in press). When the bomb exploded, 342 people were at work in the targeted governmental buildings.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making connections: exploring the centrality of posttraumatic stress symptoms and covariates after a terrorist attack

Birkeland

Heir

2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms are interconnected. Knowledge about which symptoms of posttraumatic stress are more strongly interconnected or central than others may have implications for the targeting of clinical interventions. Exploring whether symptoms of posttraumatic stress may be differentially related to covariates can contribute to our knowledge on how posttraumatic stress symptoms arise and are maintained. Objective: This study aimed to identify the most central symptoms of posttraumatic stress and their interconnections, and to explore how covariates such as exposure, sex, neuroticism, and social support are related to the network of symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Method: This study used survey data from ministerial employees collected approximately 10 months after the 2011 Oslo bombing that targeted the governmental quarters (n = 190). We conducted network analyses using Gaussian graphical models and the lasso regularization. Results: The network analysis revealed reliably strong connections between intrusive thoughts and nightmares, feeling easily startled and overly alert, and between feeling detached and emotionally numb. The most central symptom in the symptom network was feeling emotionally numb. The covariates were generally not found to have high centrality in the symptom network. An exception was that being female was connected to a high physiological reactivity to reminders of the trauma. Conclusions: Ten months after a workplace terror attack emotional numbness appears to be of high centrality in the symptom network of posttraumatic stress. Fear circuitry and dysphoric symptoms may constitute two functional entities in chronic posttraumatic stress. Clinical interventions targeting numbness may be beneficial in the treatment of posttraumatic stress, at least after workplace terrorism.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making connections: exploring the centrality of posttraumatic stress symptoms and covariates after a terrorist attack

Birkeland

Heir

2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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“…Of these, 59 could not be reached with information about the study. Of the remaining 3520 employees, 2519 (71.6%) participated in a Web-based survey 10, 22 or 34 months after the terrorist attack (Hansen et al 2017). These participants were asked for permission to collect information on their sickness absence from register data, of which 2057 (82.5%) gave their consent (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Data on exposure to the bomb explosion was for the participants retrieved from self-report in the Web-based survey (Hansen et al 2017) and for the non-participants estimated from reports of total numbers given by the included ministries. Participants who were present in the governmental district when the bomb exploded were considered as directly exposed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sick leave before and after a work-place targeted terror attack

Hansen

Berthelsen

Nissen

et al. 2018

Int Arch Occup Environ Health

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ObjectivesTo estimate the rate of sick leave and sick leave diagnosis among employees before and after a work-place targeted terror attack, and to compare sick leave in subgroups of employees based on gender and trauma exposure.MethodsData on sick leave and diagnosis in ministerial employees from the period 3 years before to 3 years after the 2011 bombing in the governmental district of Oslo was retrieved from the Norwegian Social Insurance Administration Registries.ResultsPrior to the attack, sick leave was twice as high in women as in men. Compared to the period prior to the attack, sick leave increased the first year after the attack, for both women and men that were directly exposed to the event. Sick leave stabilized to the initial level 3 years after the incident. For indirectly exposed employees, i.e., those who were not present at the site of the attack, there was no significant increase in sick leave from before to after the attack. There were no statistical significant changes in diagnoses applied before and after the terrorist attack. However, there was a tendency towards an increase in sick leave due to psychological diagnoses among the directly exposed women.ConclusionsAfter a work-place terrorist attack a transient increase in sick leave may occur among employees who were present at the site of the attack. The increase may seem relatively modest and last for 1–3 years.

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“…Notwithstanding the evidence of the impact of terroristic attacks, most studies are conducted in the US and only a small number of European studies deal with the more recent wave of terrorist attacks (Goodwin, Kaniasty, Sun, & Ben-Ezra, 2017; Hansen et al, 2017, 2013; Heir et al, 2016). As this particular wave of terrorism in Europe is rather recent, the evidence of the impact of terrorism on the population is not so well documented.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between feeling threatened by a terrorist attack and subjective health: a web survey a week after the attacks of 22 March 2016 in Belgium

Deschepper

Six

Gidron

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: The wave of terrorist attacks over the past years in Europe and other regions may cause problems such as anxiety and depressive symptoms. Some studies suggest that perceived threat might also trigger physical health problems.Objective: To investigate the association between feeling threatened and subjective health during the week following a terrorist attack.Method: Online survey with a self-selected sample in the Belgian population one week after the terrorist attacks in 2016. Participants were invited through the Belgian media to fill in a questionnaire in Dutch, French or English on a website. The main outcomes were the association between ‘feeling threatened’ and subjective health problems. Perceived threat was measured with the question ‘During the week after the attacks … Did you feel threatened?’ Subjective health was measured by using standardized scales (ACSA, PHQ-4, PHQ-15).Results: A total of 2620 respondents completed the questionnaire, of whom 69.8% were female, 27.7% lived and 43.1% worked in Brussels. Gender, age, place of living and working, media exposure, religiousness and religious affiliation were associated significantly with higher perceived threat. A total of 21% of the respondents felt much or very much threatened during the week after the attacks. They reported significantly higher levels of mental and physical health problems. The most frequently reported problems were anxiety and depressive symptoms. The health problems that differentiated most markedly between those with low and high levels of perceived threat were fainting spells, chest pain and shortness of breath.Conclusion: In a self-selected sample of respondents, ‘feeling threatened’ was strongly associated with lower level of wellbeing and higher levels of mental and physical health problems. The most prevalent health problems were mental health problems but the most pronounced differences between people with low versus high levels of perceived threat were physical health problems.

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Prevalence and Course of Symptom-Defined PTSD in Individuals Directly or Indirectly Exposed to Terror: A Longitudinal Study

Cited by 29 publications

References 35 publications

Making connections: exploring the centrality of posttraumatic stress symptoms and covariates after a terrorist attack

Making connections: exploring the centrality of posttraumatic stress symptoms and covariates after a terrorist attack

Sick leave before and after a work-place targeted terror attack

Association between feeling threatened by a terrorist attack and subjective health: a web survey a week after the attacks of 22 March 2016 in Belgium

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