Media Exposure to Bioterrorism: Stress and the Anthrax Attacks
Abstract
This study examined media exposure and adjustment to anthrax bioterrorism attacks and the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in a sample of 300 people who lived distant from the attacks. Measures of direct and indirect exposure to terrorism, perceived risk of anthrax exposure, psychological distress, and outlook were assessed at 2 to 3 months and at 8 months after the first reported anthrax attack. Initial anthrax media exposure was a powerful predictor of distress, whereas subsequent anthrax media exposure only predicted negative changes in outlook over time. Perceived risk of anthrax exposure predicted distress and outlook but did not appear to mediate the effects of media exposure. Determining the nature and consequences of media exposure to threatening and frightening events like terrorism will help predict and manage response to future bioterrorism.
References
Abramson , L. Y., Seligamn, M. E. P., & Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49–74. Crossref Medline, Google ScholarAhern , J., Galea, S., Resnick, H., Kilpatrick, D., Bucuvalas, M., Gold, J., & Vlahov, D. (2002). Television images and psychological symptoms after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Psychiatry, 65, 289–300. Link, Google Scholar- American Psychiatric Association (APA). (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Google Scholar
Antoni , M. H., Lehman, J. M., Kilbourn, K. M., Boyers, A. E., Culver, J. L., Alferi, S. M., Yount, S. E., McGregor, B. A., Arena, P. L., Harris, S. D., Price, A. A., & Carver, C. S. (2001). Cognitive–behavioral stress management intervention decreases the prevalence of depression and enhances benefit finding among women under treatment for early–stage breast cancer. Health Psychology, 20, 20–32. Crossref Medline, Google ScholarApolone , G., Mosconi, P., & La Vecchia, C. (2002). Post–traumatic stress disorder. New England Journal of Medicine, 346, 1495–1498. Crossref Medline, Google Scholar- Baum, A., Breslin, F. C., O'Keeffe, M., Ratliff–Crain, J., & Burrell, L. (1994). The Daily Record Form: A brief measure of daily perceived stress and psychosomatic complaints. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 7, 375–384. Crossref, Google Scholar
Davidson , L. M., Weiss, L., O'Keeffe, M., & Baum, A. (1991). Acute stressors and chronic stress at Three Mile Island. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 4, 481–493. Crossref, Google ScholarFoa , E. B., Zinbarg, R., & Olasov Rothbaum, B. (1992). Uncontrollability and unpredictability in post–traumatic stress disorder: An animal model. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 218–238. Crossref Medline, Google Scholar- Freedman, D., Pisani, R., & Purves, R. (1998). Statistics (3d ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. Google Scholar
Galea , S., Ahern, J., Resnick, H., Kilpatrick, D., Bucuvalas, M., Gold, J., & Vlahov, D. (2002). Psychological sequelae of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. New England Journal of Medicine, 346, 982–987. Crossref Medline, Google ScholarHavenaar , J. M., Rumyantzeva, G. M., van den Brink, W., Poelijoe, N. W., van den Bout, J., van Engeland, H., & Koeter, M. W. J. (1997). Long–term mental health effects of the Chernobyl disaster: An epidemiologic survey in two former Soviet regions. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 1605–1607. Crossref Medline, Google ScholarHolloway , H. C., Norwood, A. E., Fullerton, C. S., Engel, C. C. Jr., & Ursano, R. J. (1997). The threat of biological weapons: Prophylaxis and mitigation of psychological and social consequences. Journal of the American Medical Association, 278, 425–427. Crossref, Google ScholarHorowitz , M., Wilner, N., & Alvarez, W. (1979). Impact of Event Scale: A measure of subjective stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 41, 209–218. Crossref Medline, Google ScholarJanoff–Bulman , R. (1989). Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: Applications of the schema construct. Social Cognition, 7, 113–136. Link, Google ScholarJoseph , S., Williams, R., & Yule, W. (1993). Changes in outlook following disaster: The preliminary development of a measure to assess positive and negative responses. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 6, 271–279. Crossref, Google ScholarNorris , F. H., Friedman, M. J., Watson, P. J., Byrne, C. M., Diaz, E., & Kaniasty, K. (2002). 60,000 disaster victims speak: Part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981–2001. Psychiatry, 65, 207–239. Link, Google ScholarNorth , C. S., Nixon, S. J., Shariat, S., Mallonee, S., McMillen, J. C., Spitznagel, E. L., & Smith, E. M. (1999). Psychiatric disorders among survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing. Journal of the American Medical Association, 282, 755–762. Crossref, Google ScholarPfefferbaum , B., Nixon, S. J., Krug, R.S., Tivis, R.D., Moore, V.L., Brown, J.M., Pynoos, R.S., Foy, D., & Gurwitch, R.H. (1999). Clinical needs assessment of middle and high school students following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 1069–1074. Medline, Google ScholarPfefferbaum , B., Nixon, S. J., Tivis, R. D., Doughty, D. E., Pynoos, R. S., Gurwitch, R. H., & Foy, D. W. (2001). Television exposure in children after a terrorist incident. Psychiatry, 64, 202–211. Link, Google ScholarPfefferbaum , B., Pfefferbaum, R. L., North, C. S., & Neas, B. R. (2002). Does television viewing satisfy criteria for exposure in posttraumatic stress disorder? Psychiatry, 65, 306–309. Link, Google ScholarPfefferbaum , B., Seale, T. W., McDonald, N. B., Brandt, E. N., Jr., Rainwater, S. M., Maynard, B. T., Meierhoefer, B., & Miller, P. D. (2000). Posttraumatic stress two years after the Oklahoma City bombing in youths geographically distant from the explosion. Psychiatry, 63, 358–370. Crossref Medline, Google ScholarSchlenger , W. E., Caddell, J. M., Ebert, L., Jordan, B. K., Rourke, K. M., Wilson, D., Thalji, L., Dennis, J. M., Fairbank, J. A., & Kulka, R. A. (2002). Psychological reactions to terrorist attacks: Findings from the National Study of Americans' Reactions to September 11. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 581–588. Crossref, Google ScholarSchuster , M.A., Stein, B.D., Jaycox, L.H., Collins, R. L., Marshall, G. N., Elliot, M. N., Zhou, A. J., Kanouse, D. E., Morrison, J. L., & Berry, S. H. (2001). A national survey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. New England Journal of Medicine, 345, 1507–1512. Crossref Medline, Google ScholarSilver , R. C., Holman, E. A., McIntosh, D. N., Poulin, M., & Gil–Rivas, V. (2002). National longitudinal study of psychological responses to September 11. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 1235–1244. Crossref, Google ScholarSprang , G. (1999). Post–disaster stress following the Oklahoma City bombing: An examination of three community groups. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14, 169–183. Crossref, Google Scholar- Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1995). Trauma and transformation: Growing in the aftermath of suffering. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar
- Weiss, D. S., & Marmar, C. R. (1997). The Impact of Event Scale – Revised. In J. P. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Eds.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 399–411). New York: Guilford Press. Google Scholar