Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2012;3. doi: 10.3402/ejpt.v3i0.19709. Epub 2012 Dec 7.
Terrorism may create fear and stress reactions not only in the direct victims, but also in the general population.
This study investigated emotional responses in the Norwegian population following the 22nd July 2011 terrorist attacks. We hypothesized that Oslo residents would report a higher level of fear responses compared with people living outside Oslo and that proximity would be associated with early distress and later post-traumatic stress reactions.
Representative samples were drawn from the Norwegian Population Registry. Telephone interviews were conducted 4-5 months after the attacks. The response rate for the Oslo sample (N=465) was 24% of the total sample, and 43% of those who were actually reached by phone and asked to participate. Corresponding figures for the sample living outside Oslo (N=716) were 19% and 30%.
Our results show strong immediate emotional responses, particularly sadness and a feeling of unreality, in both samples. Jumpiness and other fear responses were significantly higher among Oslo residents. Current level of risk perception was low 4-5 months after the attacks; however, a significant minority reported to feel less safe than before. Geographical and psychological proximity were associated with early emotional responses. Psychological proximity was significantly associated with post-traumatic stress reactions, while measures of geographical proximity were not. Immediate emotional responses, first-week reactions, and first-week jumpiness were uniquely and significantly associated with post-traumatic stress reactions. Post-traumatic stress reactions were elevated in ethnic minorities.
The terrorist attacks seem to have had a significant effect on the Norwegian population, creating sadness and insecurity, at least in the short term. Proximity to the terrorist attacks was strongly associated with distress in the population, and early distress was strongly related to later post-traumatic stress reactions. Our results indicate that psychological proximity is more strongly associated with post-traumatic stress reactions than geographical proximity, and underline the importance of differentiated measurements of various aspects of early distress.
恐怖主义不仅会给直接受害者，也会给普通民众带来恐惧和压力反应。
本研究调查了 2011 年 7 月 22 日恐怖袭击事件后挪威民众的情绪反应。我们假设奥斯陆居民的恐惧反应水平会高于居住在奥斯陆以外的人群，并且接近度与早期痛苦和后期创伤后应激反应相关。
从挪威人口登记处抽取代表性样本。袭击发生 4-5 个月后进行电话访谈。奥斯陆样本（N=465）的响应率为总样本的 24%，实际接到电话并被要求参与的人数的 43%。居住在奥斯陆以外的样本（N=716）的相应比例为 19%和 30%。
我们的结果表明，两个样本都表现出强烈的即时情绪反应，特别是悲伤和不真实感。紧张和其他恐惧反应在奥斯陆居民中明显更高。袭击发生 4-5 个月后，当前风险感知水平较低；然而，仍有相当一部分人报告说感觉不如以前安全。地理和心理接近度与早期情绪反应相关。心理接近度与创伤后应激反应显著相关，而地理接近度的衡量指标则没有。即时情绪反应、第一周反应和第一周紧张与创伤后应激反应具有独特且显著的相关性。创伤后应激反应在少数民族中升高。
恐怖袭击似乎对挪威民众产生了重大影响，至少在短期内造成了悲伤和不安全感。接近恐怖袭击与民众的痛苦密切相关，早期的痛苦与后期的创伤后应激反应密切相关。我们的研究结果表明，心理接近度与创伤后应激反应的相关性强于地理接近度，并且强调了对早期痛苦的各个方面进行差异化测量的重要性。
