Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach.
Marianne S Birkeland1, Ines Blix1, Øivind Solberg1
1Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway.
Frontiers in Psychology
|December 19, 2017
Summary
Women reported higher posttraumatic stress symptoms after the Oslo bombing, but symptom network associations did not differ by gender. This suggests gender differences in posttraumatic stress disorder prevalence are not due to symptom network structures.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Trauma Studies
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSD) are more common in women than men.
- Understanding gender-specific PTSD symptom profiles and networks is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine gender differences in individual posttraumatic stress symptom levels.
- To identify gender-specific associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms after a terrorist attack.
Main Methods:
- Survey data from 190 directly and 1,615 indirectly exposed employees to the 2011 Oslo bombing.
- Bootstrapped means and standard deviations for symptom level comparisons.
- Network analyses to explore gender differences in symptom associations.
Main Results:
- Women reported higher levels of all posttraumatic stress symptoms, particularly re-experiencing, anxious/dysphoric arousal, physiological cue activity, and exaggerated startle response.
- No significant gender differences were found in the network structures of posttraumatic stress symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Gender differences in posttraumatic stress disorder prevalence are not explained by differences in symptom network associations.
- Future research should replicate these findings in diverse community and clinical samples to assess generalizability.
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