Psychological distress among American Red Cross disaster workers responding to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
This study investigated American Red Cross disaster workers' symptoms of distress and posttraumatic stress resulting from exposure to disaster stimuli during their response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A sample of 3055 Red Cross disaster workers was surveyed 1 year after the terrorist attacks regarding demographic characteristics, function during the response, and exposure to disaster stimuli. Participants were grouped by function and self-reported exposure, with the hypothesis that workers in Direct Services and/or those reporting to be directly exposed to disaster stimuli would experience greater levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms and distress than workers in indirect services or reporting no exposure. Findings revealed that while there were significant differences between both Function and Exposure groups on dependent measures, the multivariate eta2 was very small for both and did not meet medium effect size criteria. The results indicated that workers directly exposed to disaster stimuli reported no more distress than those who were not directly exposed.
Long
Mary E
ME
Disaster Mental Health Institute, Department of Clinical Psychology, The University of South Dakota, 414 East Clark Street, SDU 114, Vermillion, SD 57069-2390, USA. Mary.Long@usd.edu
Meyer
David L
DL
Jacobs
Gerard A
GA
D003710:Demography; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012011:Red Cross; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D047851:September 11 Terrorist Attacks / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology