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Losing a loved one to homicide: Prevalence and mental health correlates in a national sample of young adults
Author(s) -
Zinzow Heidi M.,
Rheingold Alyssa A.,
Hawkins Alesia O.,
Saunders Benjamin E.,
Kilpatrick Dean G.
Publication year - 2009
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.20377
Subject(s) - homicide , mental health , psychiatry , logistic regression , suicide prevention , poison control , psychology , occupational safety and health , injury prevention , medicine , human factors and ergonomics , clinical psychology , demography , medical emergency , pathology , sociology
Abstract The present study examined the prevalence, demographic distribution, and mental health correlates of losing a loved one to homicide. A national sample of 1,753 young adults completed structured telephone interviews measuring violence exposure, mental health diagnoses, and loss of a family member or close friend to a drunk driving accident (vehicular homicide) or murder (criminal homicide). The prevalence of homicide survivorship was 15%. African Americans were more highly represented among criminal homicide survivors. Logistic regression analyses found that homicide survivors were at risk for past year posttraumatic stress disorder (OR = 1.88), major depressive episode (OR = 1.64), and drug abuse/dependence (OR = 1.77). These findings highlight the significant mental health needs of homicide survivors.