Mental health impact of the World Trade Center attacks on displaced Chinese workers

Bocanegra, Heike Thiel de; Brickman, Ellen

doi:10.1023/b:jots.0000014677.20261.dd

Cited by 32 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…To date, little research has focused on how the World Trade Center attacks affected the physical or mental health of immigrant communities or the wide variety of ethnic groups living in NYC. It is possible that individuals in these communities may have suffered greater psychological problems due to fewer economic resources and greater job instability (Thiel de Bocanegra and Brickman, 2004). There may also be cultural differences in the desirability of reporting psychiatric symptoms that could affect the ethnicity-PTSD relationship (Norris et al, 2001), which we did not explore.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Predictors of PTSD and Delayed PTSD After Disaster

Adams¹,

Boscarino²

2006

Journal of Nervous &Amp; Mental Disease

217

103

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In the present study we sought to identify factors associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following the World Trade Center Disaster (WTCD) and examine changes in PTSD status over time. Our data come from a two-wave, prospective cohort study of New York City adults who were living in the city on September 11, 2001. We conducted a baseline survey 1 year after the attacks (year 1), followed by a survey 1 year later (year 2). Overall, 2368 individuals completed the year 1 survey, and 1681 were interviewed at year 2. Analyses for year 1 indicated that being younger, being female, experiencing more WTCD events, reporting more traumatic events other than the WTCD, experiencing more negative life events, having low social support, and having low self-esteem increased the likelihood of PTSD. For year 2, being middle-aged, being Latino, experiencing more negative life events and traumas since the WTCD, and having low self-esteem increased the likelihood of PTSD. Exposure to WTCD events was not related to year 2 PTSD once other factors were controlled. Following previous research, we divided study respondents into four categories: resilient cases (no PTSD years 1 or 2), remitted cases (PTSD year 1 but not year 2), delayed cases (no PTSD year 1 but PTSD year 2), and acute cases (PTSD both years 1 and 2). Factors predicting changes in PTSD between year 1 and year 2 suggested that delayed PTSD cases were more likely to have been Latino, to have experienced more negative life events, and to have had a decline in selfesteem. In contrast, remitted cases experienced fewer negative life events and had an increase in selfesteem. We discuss these findings in light of the psychosocial context associated with community disasters and traumatic stress exposures. KeywordsPosttraumatic stress disorder; delayed PTSD; disasters; psychosocial factors; stress exposure It has been well documented that exposure to severe psychological trauma such as war, sexual assault, and community disasters can result in psychological and physical health problems (Boscarino, 1997;Bromet et al., 1982;Kessler et al., 1995b;Kulka et al., 1990;Norris, 1992). The inclusion of stress response syndromes in the DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) under posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has stimulated research and focused attention on what constitutes a traumatic event (McFarlane, 2004;Yehuda, 2002). It has also resulted in numerous etiological investigations of stress disorders (Adams et al., 2002;Brewin et al., 2000;Bromet et al., 1982;McFarlane, 1988;1989), and has generated discussions of the consequences of PTSD for physical health and social role obligations (Boscarino, 2004;Kessler, 2000).Recent studies examining PTSD in community samples have estimated that almost 90% of adults have experienced at least one lifetime traumatic event, yet only about 15% of those exposed developed PTSD (Breslau et al., 2004b;Breslau et al., 2005). Thus, factors beyond the traumatic event itself are required to explain the onset of these stre...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Predictors of PTSD and Delayed PTSD After Disaster

Adams¹,

Boscarino²

2006

Journal of Nervous &Amp; Mental Disease

217

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, we are limited in our generalizations about the association between alcohol use and well-being beyond English-and Spanish-speaking groups. Only a few studies focus on how the WTCD affected the physical or mental health of immigrant communities or the wide variety of ethnic groups living in NYC (Thiel de Bocanegra & Brickman, 2004). In addition, all measures of alcohol use, mental health status and wellbeing were based on self-report.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol use in New York after the terrorist attacks: A study of the effects of psychological trauma on drinking behavior

Boscarino

Adams

Galea

2006

Addictive Behaviors

129

107

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Research has suggested that exposure to psychological trauma is associated with increased abuse of psychoactive substances, particularly alcohol. To assess this, we analyzed alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and alcohol dependence among a random sample of 1681 New York City adults 1 year and 2 years after the September 11 attacks. In multivariate models controlling for demographic factors, other stressor exposures, social psychological resources, and history of anti-social behavior, we found that greater exposure to the World Trade Center disaster (WTCD) was associated with greater alcohol consumption at 1 year and 2 years after this event. In addition, our analyses also indicated that exposure to the WTCD was associated with binge drinking at 1 year after but not 2 years after this event. Alcohol dependence, assessed as present in either year 1 or year 2, also was positively associated with greater WTCD exposures. Posttraumatic stress disorder was not associated with alcohol use, once WTCD exposure and other covariates were controlled. Our study suggests that exposure to psychological trauma may be associated with increases in problem drinking long after exposure and deserves further investigation.

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“…There may also be cultural differences in the social desirability in reporting psychiatric symptoms that could affect the ethnicity-PTSD relationship (Norris, Perilla, & Murphy 2001), which we do not have the data to explore. In one of the few studies on Asian immigrants working near the WTC at the time of the terrorist attacks, Thiel de Bocanegra and Brickman (2004) report that about 23 percent of their Chinese immigrant sample scored between moderately and severely depressed and 21 percent met study criteria for PTSD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Mental Health Outcomes among Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics Following a Community Disaster

Adams¹,

Boscarino

2005

Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes

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A number of studies have assessed the association between race and ethnicity and psychological health status following exposure to a stressful event. However, some of these studies indicate racial and ethnic minorities have poorer mental health relative to Whites, while others show no differences or that minorities may actually have better psychological health. One year after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, we collected data on a random sample of city residents (N = 2368). The dependent variables were posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), PTSD symptom severity, major depression, panic attack, and general physical and mental well-being. We categorized our respondents as Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic African American, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Other Hispanics. Bivariate results indicated racial/ethnic differences for PTSD symptom severity, depression, general physical and mental health, and panic attack. Using logistic regression and controlling for possible confounding factors, most of these associations were rendered nonsignificant. That is, we found no post-disaster racial/ethnic differences for PTSD, PTSD symptom severity, or physical health. African Americans and Other Hispanics were less likely to meet criteria for major depression or to be classified as unhealthy on the self-report SF-12 mental health scale compared to Whites. Only for panic attack were African Americans and Puerto Ricans more likely to meet criteria for this outcome. Thus, our study found little support for the hypothesis that Latinos or African Americans consistently suffered from poorer psychological and physical well-being in the aftermath of traumatic events, relative to Whites.

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Mental health impact of the World Trade Center attacks on displaced Chinese workers

Cited by 32 publications

References 13 publications

Predictors of PTSD and Delayed PTSD After Disaster

Predictors of PTSD and Delayed PTSD After Disaster

Alcohol use in New York after the terrorist attacks: A study of the effects of psychological trauma on drinking behavior

Differences in Mental Health Outcomes among Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics Following a Community Disaster

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