World Trade Center disaster and sensitization to subsequent life stress: a longitudinal study of disaster responders

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bromet E ; Crane M ; Farris SG ; Feder A ; Gonzalez A ; Kaplan J ; Kotov R ; Luft BJ ; Moline J ; Pietrzak RH ; Reissman, Dori B. ; Schechter CB ; Southwick SM ; Udasin I ; Vujanovic A ; Zvolensky MJ
• Description:
  Purpose: The current study examined the role of World Trade Center (WTC) disaster exposure (hours spent working on the site, dust cloud exposure, and losing friend/loved one) in exacerbating the effects of post-disaster life stress on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and overall functioning among WTC responders. Method: Participants were 18,896 responders (8466 police officers and 10,430 non-traditional responders) participating in the WTC Health Program who completed an initial examination between July, 2002 and April, 2010 and were reassessed an average of two years later. Results: Among police responders, there was a significant interaction, such that the effect of post-disaster life stress on later PTSD symptoms and overall functioning was stronger among police responders who had greater WTC disaster exposure (B's = .029 and .054, respectively, for PTSD symptoms and overall functioning). This moderating effect was absent in non-traditional responders. Across both groups, post-disaster life stress also consistently was related to the dependent variables in a more robust manner than WTC exposure. Discussion: The present findings suggest that WTC exposure may compound post-disaster life stress, thereby resulting in a more chronic course of PTSD symptoms and reduced functioning among police responders. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Emergency Responders Firefighters Law Enforcement Men Mental Health Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Stress, Psychological Women

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Stress Exposure Disaster Dust-exposure Dusts Emergency-responders Exposure-levels Fire-fighters Functioning Humans Law-enforcement-workers Physiological-effects Physiology Police-officers Posttraumatic Stress Psychological-effects Psychological-factors Psychological-reactions Psychological-stress Psychology Rescue-workers Responder Risk-factors Stress Trauma Traumatic-injuries

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• ISSN:
  0091-7435
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; District of Columbia ; New Jersey ; New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OD - Office of the Director ; WTCHP - World Trade Center Health Program
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  70-74
• Volume:
  75
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046116
• Citation:
  Prev Med 2015 Jun; 75:70-74
• Contact Point Address:
  Michael J. Zvolensky, The University of Houston, 126 Heyne Building, Suite 104, Houston, TX 77204-5502, USA
• Email:
  mjzvolen@central.uh.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  State University of New York at Stony Brook
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Preventive Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a1c0a2f65c4626083f1659262bff1b7de4a59fd1bedf65852c660ef3151645ee6354cd5ed1c19cb72a20519ccc7e277f4925ff104f7ccf70c79cb9aa6a95059c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201261/cdc_201261_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 344.07 KB ]