Terrorism catastrophization: An investigation of predicting and moderating factors

Abstract

Research has shown that fear associated with ongoing terrorism threat can manifest as terrorism catastrophization (TC), however, factors that predict or moderate TC remain under investigated.The current study investigated whether death anxiety and prejudice significantly predicted TC, and whether perceived control, religiosity, and meaning in life moderated such predictors. Using multiple hierarchical regression analysis (N 5 382), the study's predictor hypotheses were both supported: death anxiety and prejudice significantly predicted TC. No moderators significantly altered death anxiety's predictability of TC. However, when examining the relationship between prejudice and TC, both religiosity and meaning in life significantly positively moderated the effect of prejudice on TC: perceived control was nonsignificant. Findings from the current study could inform TC reduction techniques by reducing death anxiety and prejudice.

Terror catastrophizing: association with anxiety, depression, and transgenerational effects

“…They found it to be moderately correlated with higher incidence rates of GAD and depression in general. Previous studies have also examined the mediating role of perceived stress, how an individual feels about their stress, and death anxiety, a fear of death or dying, on TC, but they do not account for mental health diagnoses (Doak & Katsikitis, 2017 ; Nayab & Kamal, 2010 ).…”

The Impact of Death Anxiety, Meaning and Coping on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Psychiatric Co-Morbidity Among Iraqi Civilians Exposed to a Car Bomb Attack A Latent Class Analysis

“…It is also conceptualised as a feeling of uncertainty, anxiety or fear related to a death (Malinauskaite et al, 2017). It is an existential concern which often occurs after a traumatic event (Lo et al, 2017) and has been associated with increased severity of PTSD (Hamama-Raz et al, 2016) and terrorism catastrophising in victims of terrorism (Doak & Katsikitis, 2018). Death anxiety is also associated with PTSD in victims exposed to, for example, technological disasters (Chung et al, 2005), war (Russell & Russell, 2019), HIV (Safren et al, 2003), and near-death experiences (Hoelterhoff & Chung, 2017).…”