Brent D A, Perper J, Moritz G, Friend A, Schweers J, Allman C, McQuiston L, Boylan M B, Roth C, Balach L
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1993 Nov;32(6):1184-8. doi: 10.1097/00004583-199311000-00011.
This case-control study attempts to evaluate the psychological impact of witnessing a suicide on high school students.
Twenty-eight high school students witnessed a firearms suicide and the serious injury of another student while riding a school bus. They were assessed 2 months after the event, and their responses were compared with 28 demographically similar adolescents from another community who had not been exposed to suicide.
The exposed students, when compared with the controls, had higher rates of new-onset anxiety disorder and a trend for increased rates of new-onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Within the exposed group, measures of the closeness of the relationship to both the suicide victim and the student who was injured were correlated with the severity of PTSD symptomatology. Within the exposed group, other factors that predisposed to new-onset disorder included family history of affective illness, family history of suicide attempt, and stressful life events occurring in the year before exposure.
In combination with the extant literature, this study demonstrates that adolescents who witness a traumatic suicidal death are at risk for the development of psychopathology, specifically, anxiety disorders and PTSD.
本病例对照研究旨在评估目睹自杀事件对高中生的心理影响。
28名高中生在校车乘坐过程中目睹了一起持枪自杀事件以及另一名学生受重伤的情况。事件发生2个月后对他们进行了评估，并将他们的反应与来自另一个社区的28名人口统计学特征相似但未接触过自杀事件的青少年进行比较。
与对照组相比，暴露组中新发焦虑症的发生率更高，且新发创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的发生率有上升趋势。在暴露组中，与自杀受害者和受伤学生关系的亲密程度测量值与PTSD症状的严重程度相关。在暴露组中，易引发新发障碍的其他因素包括情感疾病家族史、自杀未遂家族史以及暴露前一年发生的应激性生活事件。
结合现有文献，本研究表明目睹创伤性自杀死亡的青少年有患精神病理学疾病的风险，特别是焦虑症和PTSD。
