TRAUMATIC REACTIONS AS PREDICTORS OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS 6 MONTHS AFTER THE OKLAHOMA-CITY BOMBING

Objective: This study attempted to identify remembered reactions of Ok lahoma City residents at the time of the April 1995 terrorist bombing that predicted later development of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Met hods: Eighty-six adults who sought help for distress related to the bo mbing six months after it occurred completed a survey about demographi c characteristics, level of exposure to the event, symptoms of grief, retrospective reports of reactions at the time of the trauma, current posttraumatic stress symptoms, and coping strategies. To identify imme diate bombing reactions predictive of later distress, retrospective re ports of reactions to the trauma were correlated with current posttrau matic stress symptoms. Multiple regression analysis was used to determ ine which reactions predicted the emergence of posttraumatic stress sy mptoms. Results: Reactions of being nervous and being upset by how oth er people acted when the bombing occurred accounted for about one-thir d of the total variation in posttraumatic stress symptom scores and th us were major predictors of posttraumatic stress. Conclusions: These r esults differ from those of other studies in which peritraumatic disso ciation, or dissociation at the time of the event, was more predictive than anxiety for developing later distress. The results suggest that persons who experience significant anxiety at the time of the traumati c event may continue to experience distress. Those who are overly conc erned about others' actions may be showing diminished interpersonal tr ust, evidence of terrorism's ability to erode social harmony.