Impact of Indirect Exposure to Terrorist Attacks

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The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 set in motion a sequence of events that have exposed millions of people to horror and ongoing serious threats. The first aim of the proposed study is to explore the effects of varying levels of indirect media exposure to the terrorists attacks on the well-being of 405 battered women who are involved in an ongoing panel study. More specifically, we will compare health status of participants after the 9/11 attacks to their health status leading up to the attack and examine the role of level of exposure to the attacks as a mediator of change. Well-being will be measured in the following domains: 1) mental health symptoms (i.e., post-traumatic stress, depression, alcohol and drug abuse), 2) health status, and 3) quality of life. We hypothesize a change in the trajectories of well-being, indicating lower levels of well-being post-9/11 compared to pre-9/11 levels. If this hypothesis is confirmed, then the following hypotheses will be tested: Taking baseline (pre 9/11) measures of intimate partner violence, tangible resources, social support, and well-being into account, lower levels of well-being (greater mental health symptoms, lower health status and lower quality of life) will be predicted from higher levels of indirect exposure to the terrorist events and higher levels of terrorist-related threat appraisals. The second aim is to explore the extent to which battered women currently enrolled in the longitudinal study are at increased risk for re-victimization by intimate partner violence following the 9/11 attacks. More specifically, we hypothesize a change in the trajectories of intimate partner violence, indicating greater re- victimization post-9/11 compared to pre-9/11. This information would0 also lend itself to preventive interventions following traumatic events that are experienced by whole communities. The proposed will supplement interviews in the ongoing panel study with a disaster module in each of the four remaining waves (Time7-Time1o). Our analysis plan requires multilevel random-effects regression. These results will contribute to the development of appropriate interventions in the context of ongoing threat among a high-risk sample.