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Chronic PTSD patients' functioning before and after the September 11 attacks
Author(s) -
Rosen Craig,
Tiet Quyen,
Cavella Steven,
Finney John,
Lee Tina
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.20086
Subject(s) - psychiatry , feeling , posttraumatic stress , psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , social psychology
This study examined how treatment‐seeking veterans with preexisting posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ( n = 178) were affected by vicarious exposure to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Participants were surveyed 0 to 5 months prior to 9/11 and resurveyed 6 months after the attacks. Half the patients reported that thoughts and feelings about 9/11 impaired their functioning some (37%) or most or all of the time (13%). However, there was little evidence that vicarious exposure to 9/11 altered the course of these patients' functioning. Mean symptom, substance use, and role functioning outcomes were unchanged from pre‐9/11 levels. Time spent following media coverage of 9/11 events was weakly associated ( r = .17 to .18, p < .05) with only two of eight functioning outcomes.