title: Incident-related television viewing and psychiatric disorders in Oklahoma City bombing survivors.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine terrorism media coverage and psychiatric outcomes in directly-exposed terrorism survivors. The study used (1) self-report questionnaires to retrospectively assess event-related media behaviors and reactions in a cross sectional design and (2) longitudinal structured diagnostic interviews to assess psychopathologic outcomes. The participants were 99 directly-exposed Oklahoma City bombing survivors who were initially studied six months after the 1995 incident. Though a fear reaction to bombing-related television coverage and fear-driven discontinuation of bombing-related media contact were associated with diagnostic outcomes, the number of hours viewing bombing-related television coverage in the first week after the event was not associated with the prevalence of bombing-related posttraumatic stress disorder or post-bombing major depressive disorder during the seven years post event. The results raise doubt about the effects of quantified incident-related television viewing on clinically-significant emotional outcomes in directly-exposed terrorism survivors.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. bettypfefferbaum@ouhsc.edu
authors: Betty
authors: B
authors: Pfefferbaum
authors: Carol S
authors: CS
authors: North
authors: Rose L
authors: RL
authors: Pfefferbaum
authors: Haekyung
authors: H
authors: Jeon-Slaughter
authors: J Brian
authors: JB
authors: Houston
authors: James L
authors: JL
authors: Regens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D054042:Bombs; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D008875:Middle Aged; D009825:Oklahoma; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D013690:Television; D023481:Terrorism / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult