Stancombe John, Williams Richard, Drury John, Hussey Louise, Gittins Matthew, Barrett Alan, French Paul, Chitsabesan Prathiba
Young People's Mental Health Research Unit, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
Welsh Institute for Health and Social Care, University of South Wales, UK.
BJPsych Open. 2023 Aug 8;9(5):e143. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2023.527.
Terrorist incidents lead to a range of mental health outcomes for people affected, sometimes extending years after the event. Secondary stressors can exacerbate them, and social support can provide mitigation and aid recovery. There is a need to better understand distress and mitigating factors among survivors of the Manchester Arena attack in 2017.
We explored three questions. First, what experiences of distress did participants report? Second, how might secondary stressors have influenced participants' psychosocial recoveries? Third, what part has social support played in the relationships between distress and participants' recovery trajectories?
We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of a convenience sample of survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing ( = 84) in January 2021 (3 years 8 months post-incident), and a longitudinal study of the same participants' scores on mental health measures over 3 years from September 2017.
Survivors' mental well-being scores in early 2021 were significantly lower than general population norms. Longitudinal follow-up provided evidence of enduring distress. Secondary stressors, specifically disruptions to close relationships, were associated with greater post-event distress and slower recovery. We found an indirect relationship between identifying with, and receiving support from, others present at the event and mental well-being >3 years later.
The Arena attack has had an enduring impact on mental health, even in survivors who had a mild response to the event. The quality of close relationships is pivotal to long-term outcome. Constructive support from family and friends, and people with shared experiences, are key to social cure processes that facilitate coping and recovery.
恐怖袭击事件会给受影响的人群带来一系列心理健康问题，有时这些影响会在事件发生数年之后仍持续存在。继发性压力源会加剧这些问题，而社会支持则可以起到缓解作用并帮助恢复。有必要更好地了解2017年曼彻斯特竞技场袭击事件幸存者的痛苦及缓解因素。
我们探讨了三个问题。第一，参与者报告了哪些痛苦经历？第二，继发性压力源可能如何影响参与者的心理社会恢复？第三，社会支持在痛苦与参与者恢复轨迹之间的关系中起到了什么作用？
我们于2021年1月（事件发生后3年8个月）对曼彻斯特竞技场爆炸事件幸存者的便利样本（n = 84）进行了横断面在线调查，并对同一批参与者自2017年9月起3年内的心理健康测量得分进行了纵向研究。
2021年初幸存者的心理健康得分显著低于一般人群的标准。纵向随访提供了持久痛苦的证据。继发性压力源，特别是亲密关系的破裂，与事件后的更大痛苦和更慢恢复相关。我们发现，与事件现场的其他人产生共鸣并获得他们的支持与3年多后的心理健康之间存在间接关系。
竞技场袭击事件对心理健康产生了持久影响，即使是对该事件反应轻微的幸存者也是如此。亲密关系的质量对长期结果至关重要。家人、朋友以及有共同经历的人的建设性支持，是促进应对和恢复的社会治愈过程的关键。
