Moscardino Ughetta, Scrimin Sara, Capello Fabia, Altoè Gianmarco, Axia Giovanna
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Italy.
J Clin Psychiatry. 2008 May;69(5):854-9. doi: 10.4088/jcp.v69n0520.
Children exposed to terrorism are at high risk for developing emotional and behavioral problems, but only a few studies have examined adolescents' long-term psychological adjustment after a terrorist attack. We aimed to assess psychological distress, problem behaviors, and coping in adolescents who survived the terrorist attack on School No. 1 in Beslan, Russia.
Seventy-one youths aged 14 to 17 years held as hostages by terrorists completed self-reported measures of psychological symptoms, emotional and behavioral difficulties, and coping behaviors 18 months after the traumatic event. They were compared with 100 adolescents who were not directly exposed to the attack. Data were collected during a 1-month period in May 2006.
No significant differences were found between the 2 groups in overall levels of psychological symptoms as well as in emotional and behavioral problems. Girls in both groups reported significantly more psychological distress (p = .0001) and total difficulties (p = .0001) than boys. In the directly exposed group, avoidant coping was related to worse psychological functioning for girls (r = 0.54, p < .001) and boys (r = 0.50, p < .01), whereas in the indirectly exposed group this strategy was associated with psychological distress (r = 0.43, p < .01) and total difficulties (r = 0.40, p < .01) for girls only.
More than 1 year after a terrorist attack, adolescents may experience psychological distress regardless of being directly or indirectly exposed. Professionals working with adolescents affected by terrorism should be sensitive to developmental level and gender, consider the cultural context, and foster coping skills that may be differentially effective for girls and boys.
遭受恐怖主义影响的儿童出现情绪和行为问题的风险很高，但仅有少数研究考察了青少年在恐怖袭击后的长期心理调适情况。我们旨在评估在俄罗斯别斯兰第一学校恐怖袭击事件中幸存的青少年的心理困扰、问题行为及应对方式。
71名年龄在14至17岁曾被恐怖分子扣为人质的青少年在创伤事件发生18个月后完成了心理症状、情绪和行为困难以及应对行为的自我报告测量。将他们与100名未直接遭受袭击的青少年进行比较。数据于2006年5月的1个月内收集。
两组在心理症状总体水平以及情绪和行为问题方面未发现显著差异。两组中的女孩均报告称心理困扰（p = .0001）和总体困难（p = .0001）显著多于男孩。在直接暴露组中，回避应对方式与女孩（r = 0.54，p < .001）和男孩（r = 0.50，p < .01）较差的心理功能相关，而在间接暴露组中，这种策略仅与女孩的心理困扰（r = 0.43，p < .01）和总体困难（r = 0.40，p < .01）相关。
恐怖袭击发生1年多后，青少年可能会经历心理困扰，无论他们是直接还是间接暴露于恐怖袭击之下。与受恐怖主义影响的青少年打交道的专业人员应敏感于其发展水平和性别，考虑文化背景，并培养可能对女孩和男孩有不同效果的应对技能。
