MEDIA EXPOSURE AND SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM REACTIVITY PREDICT PTSD SYMPTOMS AFTER THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBINGS

Daniel S. Busso · Katie A. McLaughlin · Margaret A. Sheridan

95 citations0/0 files storedDepression and Anxiety

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence Child Abuse and Trauma

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Terrorist attacks have been shown to precipitate posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology in children and adolescents, particularly among youths with high exposure to media coverage surrounding such events. Media exposure may be particularly likely to trigger PTSD symptoms in youths with high physiological reactivity to stress or with prior psychopathology or exposure to violence. We examined the interplay between media exposure, preattack psychopathology, autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity, and prior violence exposure in predicting PTSD symptom onset following the terrorist attack at the 2013 Boston Marathon. METHODS: A community sample of 78 adolescents (mean age = 16.7 years, 65% female) completed a survey about the bombings, including media exposure to the event and PTSD symptoms. All respondents participated in a study assessing psychopathology prior to the attack, and sympathetic and parasympathetic reactivity to a laboratory-based stressor was assessed in a subset (N = 44) of this sample. We examined the associations of media exposure, ANS reactivity, preattack psychopathology, and prior violence exposure with onset of PTSD symptoms related to the bombings. RESULTS: Media exposure, preattack psychopathology, and prior violence exposure were associated with PTSD symptoms. Moreover, media exposure interacted with sympathetic reactivity to predict PTSD symptom onset, such that adolescents with lower levels of sympathetic reactivity developed PTSD symptoms only following high exposure to media coverage of the attack. CONCLUSIONS: We provide novel evidence that physiological reactivity prior to exposure to an unpredictable traumatic stressor predicts PTSD symptom onset. These findings have implications for identifying youths most vulnerable to PTSD following wide-scale trauma.

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References

2013Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 2013Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 2014Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed.2007The Impact of Event Scale: Revised 1997The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC): Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity 2002Psychological Sequelae of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks in New York City 2001A National Survey of Stress Reactions after the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks 2003Violence and risk of PTSD, major depression, substance abuse/dependence, and comorbidity: Results from the National Survey of Adolescents.

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2015Anxiety-Inducing Media: The Effect of Constant News Broadcasting on the Well-Being of Israeli Television Viewers 2017The Unintended Consequences of Disaster-Related Media Coverage 2018Teaching vicarious trauma in the journalism classroom: An examination of educational provision in UK universities

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