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.
The bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 were 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 U.S. and the world while thousands 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. Drs. Roxane Cohen Silver and E. Alison Holman (University of California-Irvine) and colleagues have conducted a study that examined the national impact of the Boston Marathon bombings. In collaboration with a Web-based survey research firm that has recruited a nationally representative panel of individuals for online data collection, they surveyed 4675 individuals 2-4 weeks following the Boston Marathon bombings. The sample included representative subsamples of residents from metropolitan Boston (N=846) and New York (941), and a nationally representative comparison sample (N=2888). Respondents completed assessments of acute stress response, the degree of direct and indirect media-based exposure to the bombings and their aftermath, and exposure to other recent major collective traumas (e.g., the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Superstorm Sandy, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings). Six months after the bombings, 3588 of the original respondents completed a second online survey assessing lifetime trauma history, bombing-related ongoing distress, and daily functioning. Around the 1-year anniversary of the bombings, respondents were asked to write their thoughts or feelings about the event. The key findings from this study demonstrate that: 1. Indirect media-based exposure to community trauma like the bombings is associated with acute stress symptoms: Acute stress symptoms steadily increased as daily media exposure in the week after the bombings increased (see Figure 1). 2. People who engaged six or more hours of daily media coverage in the week following the bombings reported higher stress symptom levels than people who were present at the bombings. 3. Direct and media-based exposure to prior community trauma (the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Superstorm Sandy, Sandy Hook School shootings) may increase the risk of experiencing stress-related symptoms following a subsequent community trauma (i.e., the bombings). 4. Sources of bombing-related media exposure vary significantly by age and prior exposures to community trauma. Exposure to graphic images of the bombings is specifically tied to watching television and online news coverage. 5. Exposure to bloody images of a collective trauma through the media is associated with greater post-traumatic stress symptoms and fears of terrorism, which may lead to poorer daily functioning 6 months later. 6. Childhood stress/trauma is linked to higher post-traumatic stress symptoms and poorer daily functioning 6 months after the bombings. 7. Lifetime exposure to violence is associated with bombing-related post-traumatic stress symptoms 6 months later. 8. Early bombing-related media exposure (reported 2-4 weeks after the bombings) is linked to written expressions of negative emotions one year after the Boston Marathon bombing. Terrorist attacks psychologically target 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 have been largely unexplored. Information collected in this research increases our understanding of the unique needs of individuals traumatized by terrorism (directly or via the media), and provides information to help identify those at risk for subsequent difficulties following major, community-based traumatic events. The findings from this study can be used to help policymakers, service providers, educators, and the community at large design educational materials and intervention efforts that are evidence-based, more cost-effective, and more sensitive to the needs of the populace.
