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4 - Coping with a national trauma: a nationwide longitudinal study of responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11
- from Part II - The psychological aftermath of 9/11
- Edited by Yuval Neria, Columbia University, New York, Raz Gross, Columbia University, New York, Randall D. Marshall, Columbia University, New York, Ezra S. Susser, Columbia University, New York
- Foreword by Beverley Raphael
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- Book:
- 9/11: Mental Health in the Wake of Terrorist Attacks
- Published online:
- 27 October 2009
- Print publication:
- 14 September 2006, pp 45-70
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Summary
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, exposed every person in the USA to an experience that, in recent decades, was unprecedented in its scope and traumatic impact. Perhaps over 100,000 individuals directly witnessed these events, and many others viewed the attacks and their aftermath via the media (Yehuda, 2002). It has been argued that this national trauma “influenced and will continue to influence the clinical presentation of patients seeking health care services” in the USA (Yehuda, 2002, p. 108).
A wide range of responses can be expected following traumatic life events. Research conducted after the Oklahoma City, OK, bombing indicates that responses to a terrorist attack are likely to be highly variable (North et al., 1999). Research in the broader field of stress and coping has also demonstrated considerable variability in emotional and cognitive responses to stressful experiences (Silver & Wortman, 1980;Wortman & Silver, 1989, 2001). Despite advances in understanding reactions to traumatic events, our understanding of responses to community-level events in general, and terror attacks in particular, is limited. Progress in understanding the social and psychological process following such occurrences requires examination of how responses to a variety of stressful events are similar and different at both the group and individual level. Research has matured to the point that large-scale, prospective, longitudinal studies with the scope to examine mediators and moderators of adjustment processes are not only possible, but also necessary (North & Pfefferbaum, 2002). Moreover, the threat of future terrorist attacks demands that a higher level of urgency and research sophistication be directed not only at understanding the effects of such attacks, but also at the individual and social variables that predict psychological outcomes to such events over time.
23 - The meaning of loss and adjustment to bereavement
- Edited by Margaret S. Stroebe, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands, Wolfgang Stroebe, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands, Robert O. Hansson, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
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- Book:
- Handbook of Bereavement
- Published online:
- 04 May 2010
- Print publication:
- 26 March 1993, pp 349-366
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Summary
In this chapter we provide an overview of our program of research on how people cope with loss. Most of this research has focused on bereavement (see Wortman & Silver, 1987, 1989, 1990, for reviews), although we have studied other types of loss as well, including physical disability (Bulman & Wortman, 1977; Silver, 1982), criminal victimization (Coates, Wortman, & Abbey, 1979), and incest (Silver, Boon, & Stones, 1983). We have had a special interest in understanding the impact of sudden, irrevocable losses - that is, events that involve permanent change and over which one has little, if any, control. Such losses can challenge people's beliefs and assumptions about themselves and their world (Janoff-Bulman & Frieze, 1983; Wortman, 1983) and disrupt their hopes and dreams for the future (Silver & Wortman, 1980). Our goals in this work are to clarify the processes through which people try to come to terms with the inexplicable events in their lives (Tait & Silver, 1989) and to understand the theoretical mechanisms through which such events can have deleterious effects on subsequent health and functioning (Kessler, Price, & Wortman, 1985).
We begin this chapter by tracing the development of theoretical ideas that we have employed in studying these events. In developing a conceptual framework for this research, we drew from two very different theoretical approaches: (1) the so-called stage models of grief, which represent the most influential theoretical approaches to the study of grief and loss (e.g., Bowlby, 1961, 1973, 1980/1981), and (2) the stress and coping approach, which has been influential in the study of life events more generally (e.g., Kessler et al., 1985).
8 - Successful mastery of bereavement and widowhood: A life-course perspective
- Edited by Paul B. Baltes, Margret M. Baltes
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- Book:
- Successful Aging
- Published online:
- 22 March 2010
- Print publication:
- 30 November 1990, pp 225-264
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Summary
Introduction
Because increasing age is typically accompanied by the loss of important social relationships, the study of coping with loss is particularly relevant for understanding successful aging. Moreover, loss of a spouse is generally considered to be one of the most serious threats to health, well-being, and productivity during the middle and later years (see Clayton, 1979; Osterweis, Solomon, & Green, 1984; M. Stroebe & W. Stroebe, 1983; W. Stroebe & M. Stroebe, 1987; and Vachon, 1976, for reviews). In the United States alone, approximately 800,000 people are widowed each year (Osterweis et al., 1984). In fact, there are presently more than 10 million widows and 3 million widowers in the United States, and the number of bereaved continues to increase (Ball, 1976–1977). The period of widowhood is often lengthy, particularly for women. Only one quarter of widows remarry within 5 years of the loss of their spouse, and the average woman remains widowed for the rest of her life, typically about 19.5 years (Carter & Glick, 1976).
Successful mastery of this major transition is an important feature of the aging experience. The marital pair may have such closely interwoven lives that the loss of one partner may cut across the very meaning of the other's existence (Raphael, 1983). Widowhood is associated with higher mortality for both sexes, although the excess risk is much greater for men, especially during the first 6 months of bereavement (M. Stroebe & W. Stroebe, 1983; W. Stroebe & M. Stroebe, 1987).