Television exposure in children after a terrorist incident.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
This study examined the influence of bomb-related television viewing in the context of physical and emotional exposure on posttraumatic stress symptoms--intrusion, avoidance, and arousal--in middle school students following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Over 2,000 middle school students in Oklahoma City were surveyed 7 weeks after the incident. The primary outcome measures were the total posttraumatic stress symptom score and symptom cluster scores at the time of assessment. Bomb-related television viewing in the aftermath of the disaster was extensive. Both emotional and television exposure were associated with posttraumatic stress at 7 weeks. Among children with no physical or emotional exposure, the degree of television exposure was directly related to posttraumatic stress symptomatology. These findings suggest that television viewing in the aftermath of a disaster may make a small contribution to subsequent posttraumatic stress symptomatology in children or that increased television viewing may be a sign of current distress and that it should be monitored. Future research should examine further whether early symptoms predict increased television viewing and/or whether television viewing predicts subsequent symptoms.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Pfefferbaum, B; Nixon, SJ; Tivis, RD; Doughty, DE; Pynoos, RS; Gurwitch, RH; Foy, DW
Published Date
- 2001
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 64 / 3
Start / End Page
- 202 - 211
PubMed ID
- 11708044
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0033-2747
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1521/psyc.64.3.202.18462
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States