The road back: predictors of regaining preattack functioning among Project Liberty clients

This study determined the likelihood and predictors of Project Liberty counseling recipients' reporting their return to satisfactory life functioning 16 to 26 months after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Using anonymous brief paper-and-pencil questionnaires or structured telephone interviews, 452 respondents provided retrospective ratings of their functioning in five life domains during the month before the World Trade Center attacks and the month immediately before the assessment. Information on demographic characteristics and exposure to risk during the World Trade Center attacks also was obtained and used in logistic regression models. The 153 respondents who were interviewed by telephone also rated helpfulness of various coping strategies.

In the five domains, 77 to 87 percent of the sample reported good to excellent functioning in the month before the attacks; 55 to 68 percent reported returning to at least the same level of daily functioning after the attacks. African Americans were two to four times more likely than respondents of all other races to report a return to good or excellent functioning after the attack in four domains. Compared with respondents who did not lose their job as a result of the attacks, those who did lose their job were less likely to return to good preattack functioning in two domains. Project Liberty counseling reportedly helped 90 percent of respondents return to predisaster levels of functioning.

Responses to future terrorist attacks should consider demographic characteristics and the impact of the attack because they can affect return to preattack functioning. Counselors should support activities that facilitate positive responses and ameliorate negative psychological responses.