Television Images and Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After September 11: The Role of Background Characteristics, Event Exposures, and Perievent Panic

Television viewing has been associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms after disasters and traumas; we examined characteristics that may explain this association among New Yorkers after September 11, 2001. Among 2001 respondents to a random-digit dial telephone survey conducted 4 months after September 11, people who viewed more television images in the 7 days after September 11 had more probable PTSD. People in the highest third of viewing had a 2.32 times greater odds of probable PTSD after September 11 compared with people in the lowest third of viewing; after adjustment for explanatory variables, the relative odds of probable PTSD were 1.66. Adjustment for perievent panic accounted for 44% of the reduction in association between television and probable PTSD, suggesting that perievent emotional reactions may play an important role in the television and psychopathology association. Television may merit consideration as a potential exposure to a traumatic event.

[1]  B. Pfefferbaum,et al.  Clinical needs assessment of middle and high school students following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. , 1999, The American journal of psychiatry.

[2]  B. Pfefferbaum,et al.  The role of exposure in posttraumatic stress in youths following the 1995 bombing. , 1999, The Journal of the Oklahoma State Medical Association.

[3]  R. Michels.  Exposure to Traumatic Images: Symptom or Cause? , 2002, Psychiatry.

[4]  S. Galea,et al.  Psychological sequelae of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. , 2002, The New England journal of medicine.

[5]  H. Resnick,et al.  Frequency and Severity of Panic Attack Symptoms in a Treatment Seeking Sample of Trauma Victims , 1997, Journal of traumatic stress.

[6]  D. Weiss,et al.  Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: a meta-analysis. , 2003, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  C. Brewin,et al.  Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. , 2000, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[8]  M. First,et al.  The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). I: History, rationale, and description. , 1992, Archives of general psychiatry.

[9]  R. Bryant,et al.  Panic symptoms during trauma and acute stress disorder. , 2001, Behaviour research and therapy.

[10]  S. Eth.  Television Viewing as Risk Factor , 2002, Psychiatry.

[11]  B. Pfefferbaum,et al.  Posttraumatic Stress Two Years after the Oklahoma City Bombing in Youths Geographically Distant from the Explosion , 2000, Psychiatry.

[12]  H. Resnick,et al.  Prevalence of civilian trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in a representative national sample of women , 1993 .

[13]  B. Pfefferbaum,et al.  Does Television Viewing Satisfy Criteria for Exposure in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder? , 2002, Psychiatry.

[14]  J. Anthony,et al.  8 – The Diagnostic Interview Schedule , 1985 .

[15]  J. Kinzie,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF SEPTEMBER 11 ON TRAUMATIZED REFUGEES: REACTIVATION OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER , 2002, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[16]  B Barnwell,et al.  SUDAAN User's Manual, Release 7.5, , 1997 .

[17]  B. Mcfarland,et al.  A cross-cultural study of reactivation of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms: American and Cambodian psychophysiological response to viewing traumatic video scenes. , 1998, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[18]  Debby E. Doughty,et al.  Television Exposure in Children after a Terrorist Incident , 2001, Psychiatry.

[19]  D. Elliott.  Traumatic events: prevalence and delayed recall in the general population. , 1997, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[20]  F. Moyers.  Oklahoma City bombing: exacerbation of symptoms in veterans with PTSD. , 1996, Archives of psychiatric nursing.

[21]  Thomas G. Whiston,et al.  A National Survey , 1992 .

[22]  K. Chamberlain,et al.  Effect of the Gulf War on reactivation of adverse combat-related memories in Vietnam veterans. , 1994, Journal of clinical psychology.

[23]  H. Resnick,et al.  Prevalence of civilian trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in a representative national sample of women. , 1993, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[24]  Virginia Gil-Rivas,et al.  Nationwide longitudinal study of psychological responses to September 11. , 2002, JAMA.

[25]  B. Pfefferbaum,et al.  Posttraumatic stress responses in bereaved children after the Oklahoma City bombing. , 1999, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[26]  F. Putnam.  Televised Trauma and Viewer PTSD: Implications for Prevention , 2002, Psychiatry.

[27]  C. Sherbourne,et al.  The MOS social support survey. , 1991, Social science & medicine.

[28]  B. Pfefferbaum,et al.  Posttraumatic stress among young children after the death of a friend or acquaintance in a terrorist bombing. , 2000, Psychiatric services.

[29]  A. Al-Asfour,et al.  A preliminary study of PTSD and grief among the children of Kuwait following the Gulf crisis. , 1993, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[30]  T. Widiger.  DSM-IV sourcebook , 1994 .

[31]  Lisa Thalji,et al.  Psychological reactions to terrorist attacks: findings from the National Study of Americans' Reactions to September 11. , 2002, JAMA.

[32]  S. Galea,et al.  Television Images and Psychological Symptoms after the September 11 Terrorist Attacks , 2002, Psychiatry.

[33]  S. Orr,et al.  Psychophysiologic assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder imagery in Vietnam combat veterans. , 1987, Archives of general psychiatry.

[34]  D. Ready,et al.  Unique patterns of comorbidity in posttraumatic stress disorder from different sources of trauma. , 1996, Comprehensive psychiatry.

[35]  M. Elliott,et al.  A national survey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. , 2001, The New England journal of medicine.

[36]  Betty Pfefferbaum,et al.  Research on the mental health effects of terrorism. , 2002, JAMA.