RAPID: Responding to Terror (Again): A National Study of the Boston Marathon Bombings

最近发生在2013年4月15日波士顿马拉松终点线的爆炸事件，是自2001年9月11日以来美国本土发生的第一起大规模恐怖袭击事件。两枚炸弹被引爆在一个象征性的目标上；来自美国和世界各地的超过2.5万名跑步者参加了马拉松比赛；还有数千人在街头观看。三人在爆炸中丧生，数十人失去肢体，数百人致残受伤；数千名跑步者的朋友和家人也受到影响。记者和观众的摄像机拍摄了这场混乱，在接下来的几周里，这些图像在世界各地的传统和社交媒体上反复播放。在追捕肇事者的过程中，波士顿被封锁。Roxane Silver博士(加州大学欧文分校)和她的团队将进行一项研究，以考察波士顿马拉松爆炸案对全国的影响。为此，他们将与一家基于网络的调查研究公司合作，该公司已经招募了一个具有全国代表性的个人小组进行在线数据收集。他们将从波士顿马拉松爆炸案后的4100人中收集数据，其中包括具有代表性的波士顿居民800人，纽约居民800人，以及具有全国代表性的比较样本(N=2500人)。数据收集将在爆炸发生后两周内开始，也将在波士顿封锁以及随后死亡和抓获涉嫌炸弹袭击者的十天后开始。受访者将完成对急性压力反应的评估，并报告爆炸事件及其后果和最近其他重大集体创伤(例如超级风暴桑迪、桑迪胡克小学枪击案)的暴露程度(直接和媒体)。这项研究的具体目的是：1)调查有助于解释国家创伤事件(即波士顿马拉松爆炸案)反应的心理和社会过程；2)比较直接经历过集体创伤(如9/11事件、超级风暴桑迪、桑迪·胡克学校枪击案)的人和过去没有直接经历过此类事件的人对波士顿马拉松爆炸事件的反应；以及3)探索传统和社交媒体暴露在解释急性压力反应方面的作用。恐怖袭击的心理目标是整个人群，而不仅仅是那些与袭击物理上接近的人。大多数关于创伤事件、灾难和大规模屠杀的反应的研究都涉及到对那些直接受影响的人的影响；对事件发生的直接社区以外的个人的心理后果基本上没有探索。这项研究收集的信息将进一步了解受恐怖主义(直接或通过媒体)创伤的个人的独特需求，并提供信息，帮助确定那些在重大创伤事件后面临后续困难的风险人群。这项研究可能有助于政策制定者、服务提供者和广大社区设计更具成本效益和对民众需求更敏感的教育和干预努力。

The recent bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 was the first large scale terror attack on US soil since September 11, 2001. Dual bombs were detonated on a symbolic target; over 25,000 runners participated in the marathon from around the US and the world; thousands more watched from the streets. Three individuals lost their lives in the bombings, dozens more lost their limbs, and hundreds were maimed and injured; thousands of friends and family members of runners were also affected. Reporters' and spectators' cameras filmed the mayhem and over the next weeks these images were shown repeatedly in both traditional and social media around the world. The city of Boston was locked down as the perpetrators were chased. Dr. Roxane Silver (University of California-Irvine) and her team will conduct a study to examine the national impact of the Boston Marathon bombings. To do so, they will work in collaboration with a Web-based survey research firm that has recruited a nationally representative panel of individuals for online data collection. They will collect data from 4100 individuals following the Boston Marathon bombings, including a representative sample of 800 Boston residents, 800 New York residents, and a nationally representative comparison sample (N=2500). Data collection will start within two weeks of the bombings and ten days after the Boston lockdown and subsequent death and capture of the alleged bombers. Respondents will complete assessments of acute stress response, as well as report the degree of exposure (direct and media) to the bombings, their aftermath, and other recent major collective traumas (e.g., Superstorm Sandy, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings).The specific aims of this research are: 1) to investigate the psychological and social processes that help explain individual differences in response to a national traumatic event (i.e., the Boston Marathon bombings); 2) to compare responses to the Boston Marathon bombings among individuals who have directly experienced prior collective traumas (e.g., 9/11, Superstorm Sandy, the Sandy Hook School shootings) to individuals who have not directly experienced such events in the past; and 3) to explore the role of traditional and social media exposure in explaining acute stress responses.A terrorist attack psychologically targets an entire population, not merely those in physical proximity to the attack. Most research on reactions to traumatic events, disasters, and mass-murders has addressed the impact on those directly affected; the psychological consequences for individuals beyond the immediate community where the event occurs are largely unexplored. Information collected in this research will further an understanding of the unique needs of individuals traumatized by terrorism (directly or via the media), and provide information to help identify those at risk for subsequent difficulties following major traumatic events. This study may help policymakers, service providers, and the community at large design educational and intervention efforts that are more cost-effective and more sensitive to the needs of the populace.