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Post-traumatic stress reactions in survivors of the 2011 massacre on Utøya Island, Norway

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Grete Dyb ,
Tine K. Jensen ,
Egil Nygaard ,
Øivind Ekeberg ,
Trond H. Diseths ,
Tore Wentzel-Larsen  and
Siri Thoresen
Grete Dyb*
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, and Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Tine K. Jensen
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, and Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo
Egil Nygaard
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, and Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo
Øivind Ekeberg
Affiliation:
Department of Acute Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, and Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Trond H. Diseths
Affiliation:
Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, and Department of Clinical Neurosciences for Children, Women and Children's Division, Oslo University Hospital
Tore Wentzel-Larsen
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, and Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway
Siri Thoresen
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway
*
Grete Dyb, MD, PhD, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Postbox 181 Nydalen, 0409 OSLO, Norway. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Background

Although youths in many countries have been exposed to terrorism, few studies have examined early risk and protective factors for the subsequent development of mental health problems.

Aims

To investigate the levels of post-traumatic stress in survivors of the 2011 massacre on Ut⊘ya Island compared with the general population in Norway, and to identify predictive factors.

Method

Four hundred and ninety survivors were invited to participate. Structured face-to-face interviews were performed 4–5 months after the attack.

Results

There were 325 study participants (response rate 66%). Survivors had been highly exposed to danger and loss. Post-traumatic stress levels were more than six times higher in survivors than in the general population. Predictors were female gender, minority ethnic status, high level of trauma exposure, pain, the loss of someone close and social support.

Conclusions

Survivor characteristics that can be assessed in the early aftermath of a terrorist attack strongly predict the subsequent mental health problems of exposed youths. The highly elevated symptoms observed were largely attributable to the traumatic experience and reflect the mental health costs of the terrorist attack.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 204 , Issue 5 , May 2014 , pp. 361 - 367
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NC
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2014

Footnotes

†

See editorial, pp. 329–330, this issue.

This study was funded by the Norwegian Directorate of Health.

Declaration of interest

None.

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