Current affairs and the public psyche: American anxiety in the post 9/11 world

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Cohen, P.; Kasen, S.; Chen, H.; Gordon, K.; Berenson, K.; Brook, J.; White, T.

Source:

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, Volume 41, Number 4, p.251-60 (2006)

Keywords:

Adult Anxiety Disorders/*epidemiology Female Humans Incidence Longitudinal Studies Male New York City September 11 Terrorist Attacks/*psychology United States/epidemiology

Abstract:

{BACKGROUND: The most recent wave of interviews in a longitudinal study spanned the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This unintended "natural experiment" allows examination of effects of traumatic events in ways impossible in studies conducted solely after the event and in populations not previously studied. METHODS: Participants were 610 members of the randomly selected Children in the Community cohort studied longitudinally for over 25 years and between ages 27 and 38 at the time of the current in-home interviews. Symptoms of generalized anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, dissociation, and depression were assessed with an adaptation of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnosis. Changes in self-reported symptoms from an assessment 10 years earlier were related to the date of interview between 7/2001 and 12/2003 by polynomial regression methods, including demographic and design controls. Diagnoses based on clinical follow-up were also examined. RESULTS: In contrast to other data on this cohort where timing effects were absent, levels of symptoms were related to time of interview. The months following 9/11/2001 and the two anniversary periods in 2002 and 2003 showed significant elevation in anxiety symptoms (t = 2.50

Notes:

1433-9285 (Electronic) Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't