Mental Health and Posttraumatic Growth in Civilians Exposed to Ongoing Terror

Abstract

This study investigated negative and positive emotional outcomes among civilians exposed to ongoing terror. The measures included direct, indirect, and subjective exposure to terror; human resources; posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms; distress; and posttraumatic growth (PTG). The results indicate that whereas direct exposure is not related to the outcomes, exposure of family members to terror is positively related to PTS and to PTG. Path analysis revealed an indirect relationship between subjective exposure and PTG mediated by PTS, suggesting the role of emotional suffering in inducing growth. Clinical implications of incorporating PTG strategies into the treatment of terror victims are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• ongoing terror
• PTG
• PTSD

Notes

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001 (two-tailed).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tali Bayer-Topilsky

Tali Bayer-Topilsky received her PhD in social science from the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. She is currently a researcher at the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute in Israel, which is a premier center for applied social policy research. Dr. Topilsky is interested in the relationship between negative and positive (PTG) outcomes of exposure to traumatic life events.

Haya Itzhaky

Haya Itzhaky is a full professor at the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. She is particularly interested in the study of communities that have experienced terror attacks and how they deal with these experiences. Her research has also examined the correlation between supervision and secondary traumatization of therapists who have treated victims of different types of trauma: battered women, survivors of terror attacks, and children at risk.

Rachel Dekel

Rachel Dekel is an associate professor at the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. She is particularly interested in the study of individuals who have experienced secondary exposure to traumatic events. In addition, she is interested in exploring the consequences of direct exposure to traumatic events.

Yariv N. Marmor

Yariv N. Marmor is a research associate in the Division of Health Care Policy and Research at the Mayo Clinic. His current research interests are in the areas of process analysis and improvement of medical systems.