Studies of terrorism‐related deaths are few and mostly focus on short‐term effects. To characterize long‐term bereavement outcomes, including resilience/recovery and patterns of comorbidity, following the September 11, 2001 (9/11), terrorist attacks, we report mental health conditions and grief‐related impairment in 454 9/11 bereaved family members. In addition, the contribution of non‐9/11 lifetime traumas, pre‐9/11 mental health conditions, post‐9/11 interim life events, grief services, income adequacy, and social support were examined. Latent class analyses yielded three groups: healthy, comorbid without PTSD (comorbid/noPTSD), and comorbid with PTSD and impaired (comorbid/PTSD+I). Participants in the healthy group (66.1%) were least likely to meet thresholds for mental conditions, whereas those in the comorbid/noPTSD (21.3%) and comorbid/PTSD+I (12.6%) groups had higher probabilities of meeting depression, grief, and anxiety thresholds. These groups also endorsed more negatively valenced post‐9/11 interim life events than the healthy group: comorbid/noPTSD vs. healthy, odds ratio (OR) = 0.84, 95% CI [0.76, 0.94]; comorbid/PTSD+I vs. healthy, OR = 0.85, 95% CI [0.76, 0.96]. Comorbid/PTSD+I was the only group with elevated probabilities of meeting clinical thresholds for PTSD (.64) and grief‐related impairment (.94). This group was also more likely to include bereaved parents: comorbid/PTSD+I vs. healthy, OR = 12.96, 95% CI [1.97, 85.41]; comorbid/PTSD+I vs. comorbid/noPTSD, OR = 15.55, 95% CI [1.63, 148.41]); and to experience more non‐9/11 lifetime traumas: comorbid/PTSD+I vs. healthy, OR = 4.34, 95% CI [1.28, 14.70]; comorbid/PTSD+I vs. comorbid/noPTSD, OR = 6.54, 95% CI [1.53, 27.95]. Clinical and community programs should target this high‐risk group to identify individuals in need of services.
Returning human remains to family members after a loved one's death is thought to support grief adaptation. However, no known research has examined the effects that notifications of fragmented remains have on bereaved family members. We examined the number of notifications received, continuing questions about the death, grief severity, and posttraumatic stress (PTS) in family members bereaved by the September 11, 2001 attacks (N = 454). One notification was associated with fewer continuing questions compared to zero notifications, p = .037, or two or more notifications, p = .009. A model using notifications and continuing questions to predict grief severity showed there was no difference between receiving one and zero notifications, p = .244; however, receipt of two or more notifications was associated with higher grief severity compared to zero notifications, p = .032. A similar model demonstrated that receipt of any notifications was associated with PTS, ɳ p 2 = .026, p = .006. Having continuing questions was associated with grief severity, ɳ p 2 = .170, p < .001; and PTS, ɳ p 2 = .086, p < .001. Additionally, participants who received one notification and chose not to receive more had fewer continuing questions compared to all other participants, and participants who received two or more notifications and chose no future notifications had higher PTS levels compared to all other participants. The results indicate that human remains notification is not associated with reduced grief severity but is associated with PTS. These findings should inform notification policy and guide families' notification choice after traumatic deaths.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.