Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Gender, and Risk Factors: World Trade Center Tower Survivors 10 to 11 Years After the September 11, 2001 Attacks

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adams SW ; Bowler RM ; Brackbill R ; Cone, James E. ; Gocheva VV ; Li J ; Mergler D
• Description:
  Ten to eleven years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was evaluated in 1,755 World Trade Center (WTC) evacuees based on data from the WTC Health Registry. Characteristics of men and women were compared and factors associated with PTSD symptom severity were examined using the PTSD Checklist (PCL). Compared with men (n = 1,015, 57.8%), women (n = 740, 42.2%) were younger and of lower socioeconomic status. Ten to eleven years after September 11, 2001, 13.7% of men and 24.1% of women met criteria for PTSD. Results indicated that when considered with all other variables (i.e., demographic, socioeconomic and social resources, exposure to the attacks, life events), gender was not a significant predictor of PTSD symptom severity. Being younger on September 11, 2001, unemployed, less educated, and/or having higher exposure to the attacks, unmet mental health care needs, and less social support predicted higher PCL scores for both genders (Bs = .077 to .239). Demographic characteristics and socioeconomic resources (delta R2 = .113) accounted for the largest amount of variance in PCL scores over and above exposure/evacuation, mental healthcare needs, and social support variables (delta R2 = .093 to .102). When trends of unmet mental healthcare needs were analyzed, the most prevalent response for men was that they preferred to manage their own symptoms (15.1%), whereas the most prevalent response for women was that they could not afford to pay for mental health care (14.7%). Although the prevalence of probable PTSD in women tower survivors was approximately twice as high as it was for men, this is attributable largely to demographic and socioeconomic resource factors and not gender alone. Implications for treatment and interventions are discussed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Men Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks Women
• Keywords:
  Excavations Exposure Levels Health Care Humans Mental Health Post-traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD Risk Factors Socioeconomics Sociological Factors Sociology Statistical Analysis Terrorism World Trade Center WTC

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• ISSN:
  0894-9867
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; New York ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  30
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050899
• Citation:
  J Trauma Stress 2017 Dec; 30(6):564-570
• Contact Point Address:
  Rosemarie M. Bowler, Ph.D., M.P.H., 8371 Kent Drive, El Cerrito, CA 94530
• Email:
  rbowl@sfsu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Health/Mental Hygiene
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090430
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Traumatic Stress
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9a2b51c55dba95a2c04a38f9801398788da6e9a80f458b0c705980c225e8850c38b4245bc39e5343cc858a60a8bde24054368832b0e39b78b6bad8f8fdbe6b79
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211089/cdc_211089_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 202.92 KB ]