Reactions of Oklahoma City bombing survivors to media coverage of the September 11, 2001, attacks
Abstract
This study explored the effects of media coverage of a terrorist incident in individuals remote from the location of a major attack who had directly experienced a prior terrorist incident. Directly-exposed survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, initially studied six months after the incident, and indirectly-affected Oklahoma City community residents were assessed two to seven months after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Survivors were assessed for a diagnosis of bombing-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at index and follow up, and emotional reactions and September 11 media behavior were assessed in all participants. Among the three investigated forms of media (television, radio, and newspaper), only television viewing was associated with 9/11-related posttraumatic stress reactions. Exposure to the Oklahoma City bombing was associated with greater arousal in relation to the September 11 attacks, and among survivors, having developed bombing-related PTSD was associated with higher scores on all three September 11 posttraumatic stress response clusters (intrusion, avoidance, and arousal). Although time spent watching television coverage of the September 11 attacks and fear-related discontinuation of media contact...Continue Reading
References
Traumatic reactions as predictors of posttraumatic stress six months after the Oklahoma City bombing
Physiologic reactivity despite emotional resilience several years after direct exposure to terrorism
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