Gender differences in the fear of terrorism among Japanese individuals in the Washington, D.C. area.
BACKGROUND
Few studies have focused on public responses to terror threat among the Asian community in the United States. An Internet-based survey was conducted among 87 Japanese individuals living in the Washington, D.C. area to examine the risk factors for perceiving high fear of terrorism.


METHODS
The subjects were members of four Japanese community organizations based in the greater Washington region. Their degree of the fear of terrorism was assessed using a five-point Likert scale (Fear of Terrorism Score; FTS), ranging from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). A score of 2 or more was defined as a high FTS.


RESULTS
Bivariate analysis revealed that a high FTS was associated with being ≥36 years old, female, married, a permanent U.S. resident, a housewife, and having lived in the Washington or New York area during the September 11, 2001 attacks (p<0.05). In a multivariate model, being female was a predictor of high FTS (odds ratio=6.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-40.8, p=0.024).


CONCLUSIONS
Japanese women living in the Washington area were six times more likely to perceive high fear of terrorism than men.
Department of Psychiatry, National Defense Medical College, 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-8513 Japan; Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814 USA.
Jun
J
Shigemura
Carol S
CS
Fullerton
Robert J
RJ
Ursano
Leming
L
Wang
Raffaella
R
Querci-Daniore
Naoshi
N
Horikawa
Aihide
A
Yoshino
Soichiro
S
Nomura