Like a bridge over troubled water? A longitudinal study of general social support, colleague support, and leader support as recovery factors after a traumatic event

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the sample.

	N ≈ 238
Age (years) M ± SD	45.1 (10.8)
Gender (female %)	72
Education (low/mid/high %)	15 /27 /57
Present during bomb explosion (yes %)	22
Did you witness dead/dying people? (yes %)	8
Did you witness seriously injured people? (yes %)	18
Were you injured? (yes %)	8
Was a colleague injured? (yes %)	62
Did a colleague of yours die? (yes %)	24
Office damage? (yes %)	68
Other traumatic event last year before T1 (yes %)	9
Other traumatic event between T1 and T2 (yes %)	8
Other traumatic event between T2 and T3 (yes %)	6

Table 2. Means (SD), and correlations between psychological distress, exposure, and different types of support, t1 ≤ 1.85 (N ≈ 238).

	Range	Mean (SD)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
1. Psychological distress T1	1–4	2.38 (0.46)
2. Psychological distress T2	1–4	2.10 (0.60)	0.48**
3. Psychological distress T3	1–4	1.99 (0.62)	0.43**	0.67**
4. Direct exposure	0–1	0.22 (0.42)	0.12	0.15
5. Other traumas T1	0–1	0.09 (0.29)	0.05	0.03	0.04	−0.03
6. Other traumas T2	0–1	0.08 (0.27)	0.00	0.05	0.12	0.08	0.19*
7. Other traumas T3	0–1	0.06 (0.23)	0.05	0.02	0.11	0.02	0.11	0.35**
8. Social support T1	1–7	4.52 (1.45)	−0.11	−0.21**	−0.17*	0.05	−0.02	−0.05	−0.13
9. Social support T2	1–7	4.46 (1.53)	0.01	−0.31**	−0.27**	0.05	−0.08	−0.05	−0.12	0.66**
10. Social support T3	1–7	4.70 (1.49)	−0.08	−0.23**	−0.32**	0.02	−0.09	−0.12	−0.17*	0.61**	0.72**
11. Colleague support T1	1–5	3.61 (0.84)	−0.02	−0.13	−0.04	−0.05	0.04	−0.06	0.03	0.51**	0.36**	0.37**
12. Colleague support T2	1–5	3.65 (0.84)	0.06	−0.20*	−0.15	0.19*	−0.02	−0.02	−0.05	0.30**	0.41**	0.32**	0.50**
13. Colleague support T3	1–5	3.84 (0.82)	−0.04	−0.22*	−0.28**	0.03	−0.03	−0.23*	0.01	0.33**	0.46**	0.47**	0.52**	0.48**
14. Leader support T1	1–5	3.34 (0.93)	−0.02	−0.13	−0.13	−0.01	−0.13	−0.13	−0.07	0.30**	0.24**	0.23**	0.48**	0.29**	0.32**
15. Leader support T2	1–5	3.49 (0.95)	−0.04	−0.32**	−0.24*	0.11	−0.13	−0.04	−0.08	0.26**	0.36**	0.22*	0.30**	0.52**	0.30**	0.52**
16. Leader support T3	1–5	3.62 (0.97)	−0.21*	−0.24*	−0.30**	0.06	0.00	−0.14	−0.05	0.18*	0.28**	0.32**	0.28**	0.31**	0.54**	0.54**	0.58**

* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001

Table 3. Unstandardized parameter estimates and standard errors (SE), and model fit indices for latent growth curve models of psychological distress and social support.

	Psychological distress			General social support			Colleague support			Leader support
	Estimate	SE	p	Estimate	SE	p	Estimate	SE	p	Estimate	SE	p
Means
Intercept	2.36	0.03	0.000	4.52	0.09	0.000	3.60	0.06	0.000	3.34	0.06	0.000
Slope	−0.19	0.02	0.000	0.06	0.05	0.202	0.10	0.03	0.004	0.14	0.04	0.000
Variances
Intercept	0.12	0.04		1.40	0.25		0.33	0.05	0.000	0.49	0.06	0.000
Slope	0.06	0.02	0.003	0.15	0.12	0.000	-	-		-	-
Covariance	0.00	0.03	0.011	−0.02	0.14	0.216	-	-		-	-
χ^2	8.099			0.186			1.135			2.076
RMSEA	0.173			0.000			0.000			0.000
CFI	0.930			1.000			1.000			1.000
SRMR	0.044			0.005			0.038			0.067

Table 4. Standardized estimates and standard errors (SE) of associations between intercepts (I) and slopes (S) of psychological distress, and direct exposure, sex, and sources of social support measured at T1.

	Model 1: Intercept parameterized as baseline status (10 months after)						Model 2: Intercept parameterized as endpoint (three years after)
	I on			S on			I on			S on
	Est	SE	p	Est	SE	p	Est	SE	p	Est	SE	p
Direct exposure	0.16	0.09	0.089	0.09	0.09	0.271	0.17	0.07	0.016	0.09	0.09	0.271
Sex	0.21	0.07	0.006	−0.17	0.09	0.055	−0.02	0.08	0.804	−0.17	0.09	0.055
General social support	−0.20	0.10	0.045	−0.21	0.11	0.050	−0.29	0.09	0.001	−0.21	0.11	0.050
Colleague support	0.04	0.08	0.643	0.11	0.12	0.391	0.11	0.11	0.281	0.11	0.12	0.391
Leader support	0.02	0.09	0.841	−0.21	0.11	0.048	−0.16	0.09	0.065	−0.21	0.11	0.048
χ^2	8.710						8.710
RMSEA	0.045						0.045
CFI	0.980						0.980
SRMR	0.024						0.024

Figure 1. Estimated mean development of psychological distress from 10 months (T1) to three years (T3) after the 2011 Oslo bombing, dependent on level of general social support, when exposure, sex, colleague support, and leader support are controlled for.

*** slope: p < 0.001.

Figure 2. Estimated mean development of psychological distress from 10 months (T1) to three years (T3) after the 2011 Oslo bombing, dependent on level of leader support, when exposure, sex, colleague support, and general social support are controlled for.

*** slope: p < 0.001.