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Post-Traumatic Stress Reactions Following the March 11, 2004 Terrorist Attacks in a Madrid Community Sample: A Cautionary Note about the Measurement of Psychological Trauma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Carmelo Vázquez ,
Pau Pérez-Sales  and
Georg Matt
Carmelo Vázquez*
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Pau Pérez-Sales
Affiliation:
Hospital La Paz (Madrid) and Grupo de Acción Comunitaria (GAC), Madrid
Georg Matt
Affiliation:
San Diego State University, USA
*
Address correspondence to: Carmelo Vázquez, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Campus de Somosaguas, 28223-Madrid (Spain). Telephone: (34) 91-3943131. Fax: (34) 91-3943189. E-mail: cvazquez@psi.ucm.es
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Abstract

Posttraumatic stress reactions related to the Madrid March 11, 2004, terrorist attacks were examined in a sample of Madrid residents (N = 503) 18-25 days after the attacks, using multiple diagnostic criteria and different cut-off scores. Based on the symptoms covered by the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C; Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, & Keane, 1993), rates of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ranged from 3.4% to 13.3%. Taking into account additional criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 200; i.e., the impact of initial reaction and problems in daily functioning as a consequence of the traumatic event), only 1.9% of respondents reported probable PTSD. These results suggest that inferences about the impact of traumatic events on the general population are strongly influenced by the definition of traumatic response. Our findings also revealed that the magnitude of posttraumatic reactions is associated with several risk factors, including living close to the attacked locations, physical proximity to the attacks when they occurred, perception of one's life being at risk, intensity of initial emotional reactions, and being a daily user of the attacked train lines. The use of different cut-off scores did not affect the pattern of risk to develop traumatic stress. The implications of these results for public health policies related to terrorist attacks are discussed.

Se examinaron reacciones de estrés postraumático, empleando múltiples criterios diagnósticos y puntos de corte, en una muestra de la población de Madrid (N = 503), 18-25 días después de los ataques terroristas de Madrid del 11 de marzo de 2004. En función del punto de corte seleccionado, los porcentajes de probable trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT) basado en el Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C; Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, & Keane, 1993) fluctuaban entre el 3,4% y el 13,3%. Al añadir a los síntomas de TEPT otros criterios del Manual Diagnóstico y Estadístico de Trastornos Mentales (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) requeridos para su diagnóstico (p. ej., el impacto de la reacción inicial y problemas en el funcionamiento cotidiano como consecuencia del evento traumático), sólo el 1,9% presentaba un probable TEPT. Estos resultados demuestran que las inferencias acerca del impacto de eventos traumáticos en la población general pueden depender en gran parte de la definición y medida de la respuesta traumática. Nuestros resultados también revelaron que, aunque la magnitud de las reacciones postraumáticas se relacionaba con varios factores de riesgo (vivir cerca de los lugares atacados, proximidad física a los ataques cuando ocurrieron, percepción de amenaza para la propia vida, intensidad de las reacciones emocionales iniciales, y ser un usuario diario de las líneas de trenes atacadas), el uso de diferentes estrategias de punto de corte no afectó el patrón principal de riesgo para el desarrollo de estrés traumático. Se comentan las implicaciones de estos resultados para las políticas de la salud pública relacionadas con los ataques terroristas.

Keywords

Post traumatic stress disordertraumaPTSDacute stress disorderrisk factorsSeptember 11terrorismtrastorno de estrés posttraumáticotraumaTEPTtrastorno agudo de estrésfactores de riesgo11 de septiembreterrorismo
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , May 2006 , pp. 61 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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