Citation

McGuigan K, Shevlin M. Traumatology 2010; 16(1): 1-6.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Green Cross Academy of Traumatology, Publisher APA Journals)

DOI

10.1177/1534765609347546

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the levels of psychological distress experienced among the families of those killed and those wounded on Bloody Sunday. A longitudinal design was used. A measure of psychological distress was administered to four groups of participants at four times over a period of approximately 4½ years. The Impact of Events Scale—Revised (IES-R) was administered to 69 participants who comprised four groups; those wounded during Bloody Sunday, the immediate family of victims, second-generation family members of victims, and a comparison group. Significant between-group and within-group main effects were found using a mixed analysis of variance. This indicated that there were significant differences in IES-R scores across the four groups and that the scores decreased across time. The group by time interaction was statistically significant, which indicated that the changes in IES-R scores across time differed across groups. The results attest to the persistent and far-reaching effects of traumatic events on individuals, with psychological distress still being reported more than 30 years after the event.