Frequency of traumatic stress, anxiety and depressive symptom in individuals exposed to long-term terrorist incidents

Abstract

Objectives: The research was conducted to determine the post-12 month frequency of traumatic stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and related risk factors in individuals who were exposed to terrorist incidents in areas experiencing prolonged armed conflict. Methods: The research was carried out using a cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational design. The research sample consisted of 331 individuals who voluntarily agreed to participate in the research, lived in areas experiencing prolonged armed conflict, and were exposed to terrorist attacks. For data collection, a personal information form, the Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale (TSSS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS) were used. In the data analysis, descriptive analysis, Mann Whitney U Test, Kruskal Wallis Test, multiple regression and Spearman correlation were used. Results: It was determined that 79.2% of the individuals participating in the study had potential traumatic stress symptoms, and that in 52% of the individuals, depression accompanied the traumatic stress symptoms. Furthermore, it was found that 70.7% of the individuals had symptoms indicating depressiveness and anxiety. Results of the correlation analysis at the 0.01 level showed that there was a positive-high level correlation between TSSS and BDI, a positive-moderate level correlation between TSSS and BAS, and a positive-moderate correlation between BDI and BAS. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean total scale scores on the TSSS, BDI and BAS in terms of the economic status of the individuals Finally, it was determined that there was a statistically significant relationship between the mean total scores on the TSSS, BDI and BAS and the individuals’ status of being in need of immediate psychological support. Conclusion: It was observed that all the participants had anxiety, and that most of them had depressive symptoms and a high level of traumatic stress.