Citation

Miller MW, Wolf EJ, Hein C, Prince L, Reardon AF. J. Trauma. Stress 2013; 26(6): 762-766.

Affiliation

National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.21865

PMID

24343753

Abstract

This study examined the psychological impact of the Boston Marathon bombing using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of Boston-area veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; N = 71). Participants were assessed by telephone within 1 week of the end of the event; 42.3% of participants reported being personally affected by the bombings and/or the manhunt that followed. The majority of them reported that the bombing reminded them of their own traumas and/or caused other emotional distress. Examination of change in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms from a prebombing assessment an average of 2 months earlier to 1 week after the event revealed no significant change in symptoms across the sample as a whole. However, examination of patterns of change at the individual level revealed significant correlations (r = .33; p = .005) between distress at the time of the event and change in total PTSD symptom severity, with this effect accounted for primarily by increases in intrusion and avoidance symptoms (rs = .35 and .31, ps = .002 and .008, respectively). Findings of this study should raise awareness of the potential impact of terror attacks, mass shootings, and other events of this type on the well-being of individuals with histories of trauma and/or pre-existing PTSD.

Language: en