A lifespan perspective on terrorism: Age differences in trajectories of response to 9/11

Developmental Psychology

Volumn 49, Issue 5, 2013, Pages 986-998

  Scott, Stacey B ^a   Poulin, Michael J ^b   Silver, Roxane Cohen ^c  

^a PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

Distress; Fear; Lifespan; Posttraumatic stress; Terrorism

Indexed keywords

ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGE; AGED; ARTICLE; FEAR; FEMALE; HUMAN; LIFE EVENT; LONGITUDINAL STUDY; MALE; MENTAL STRESS; MIDDLE AGED; POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; STATISTICAL MODEL; TERRORISM; TIME; VERY ELDERLY;

ADAPTATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGE FACTORS; AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; FEAR; FEMALE; HUMANS; LIFE CHANGE EVENTS; LONGITUDINAL STUDIES; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; MODELS, STATISTICAL; SEPTEMBER 11 TERRORIST ATTACKS; STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC; STRESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL; TIME FACTORS; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84877135130     PISSN: 00121649     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/a0028916     Document Type: Article

References (69)

1. American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2. Baltes, P. B., & Nesselroade, J. R. (1984). Paradigms lost and paradigms gained: Critique of Dannefer's portrayal of lifespan developmental psychology. American Sociological Review, 49, 841-847. doi:10.2307/ 2095533
3. Baltes, P. B., Reese, H., & Lipsitt, L. (1980). Lifespan developmental psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 31, 65-110. doi:10.1146/ annurev.ps.31.020180.000433
4. Bell, B. D. (1978). Disaster impact and response: Overcoming the thousand natural shocks. Gerontologist, 18, 531-540. doi:10.1093/geront/ 18.6.531
5. Blanchard-Fields, F. (1998). The role of emotion in social cognition across the adult life span. In K. W. Schaie & M. P. Lawton (Eds.), Annual review of gerontology and geriatrics (Vol. 17, pp. 238-265). New York, NY: Springer.
6. Bolin, R., & Klenow, D. L. (1982). Response of the elderly to disaster: An age-stratified analysis. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 16, 283-296. doi:10.2190/MQEG-YN39-8D5V-WKMP
7. Bonanno, G. A., Rennicke, C., & Dekel, S. (2005). Self-enhancement among high-exposure survivors of the September 11th terrorist attack: Resilience or social maladjustment? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 984-998. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.6.984
8. Breslau, N., Kessler, R. C., Chilcoat, H. D., Schultz, L. R., Davis, G. C., & Andreski, P. (1998). Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in the community: The 1996 Detroit Area Survey of Trauma. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 626-632. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.55.7.626
9. Carstensen, L. L. (1995). Evidence for a life-span theory of socioemotional selectivity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4, 151-156. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.ep11512261
10. Charles, S. T. (2010). Strength and vulnerability integration: A model of emotional well-being across adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 1068-1091. doi:10.1037/a0021232
11. Charles, S. T., Mather, M., & Carstensen, L. L. (2003). Aging and emotional memory: The forgettable nature of negative images for older adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 310-324. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.132.2.310
12. Chu, T. Q., Seery, M. D., Ence, W. A., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2006). Ethnicity and gender in the face of a terrorist attack: A national longitudinal study of immediate responses and outcomes two years after September 11. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28, 291-301. doi:10.1207/s15324834basp2804_2E
13. Cohen, M. (2008). Acute stress disorder in older, middle-aged and younger adults in reaction to the second Lebanon war. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23, 34-40. doi:10.1002/gps.1832
14. Day, C. L., & Jencik, A. N. (2010, September). Aging and disaster: Coping in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC.
15. Dennis, J. M. (2001). Are Internet panels creating professional respondents? The benefits of online panels far outweigh the potential for panel effects. Marketing Research, Summer, 34-38.
16. Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., Rickels, K., Uhlenhuth, E. H., & Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): A self report symptom inventory. Behavioral Science, 19, 1-15. doi:10.1002/ bs.3830190102
17. Derogatis, L. R., & Savitz, K. L. (2000). The SCL-90-R and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in primary care. In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), Handbook of psychological assessment in primary care settings (pp. 297-334). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
18. DiGrande, L., Perrin, M. A., Thorpe, L. E., Thalji, L., Murphy, J., Wu, D.,... Brackbill, R. M. (2008). Posttraumatic stress symptoms, PTSD, and risk factors among lower Manhattan residents 2-3 years after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21, 264-273. doi:10.1002/jts.20345
19. Eisenberg, N., & Silver, R. C. (2011). Growing up in the shadow of terrorism: Youth in America after 9/11. American Psychologist, 66, 468-481. doi doi:10.1037/a0024619
20. Elder, G. H. (1979). Historical change in life patterns and personality. In P. Baltes & O. Brim Jr. (Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (pp. 117-159). New York, NY: Academic Press.
21. Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Pimley, S., & Novacek, J. (1987). Age differences in stress and coping processes. Psychology and Aging, 2, 171-184. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.2.2.171
22. Ford, J. D., Adams, M. L., & Dailey, W. F. (2007). Psychological and health problems in a geographically proximate population time-sampled continuously for three months after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist incidents. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 20, 126-146. doi:10.1080/ 10615800701303215
23. Galea, S., Ahern, J., Resnick, H., Kilpatrick, D., Bucuvalas, M., Gold, J., & Vlahov, D. (2002). Psychological sequalae of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. New England Journal of Medicine, 346, 982-987. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa013404
24. Gerstorf, D., Ram, N., Rocke, C., Lindenberger, U., & Smith, J. (2008). Decline in life satisfaction in old age: Longitudinal evidence for links to distance-to-death. Psychology and Aging, 23, 154-168. doi:10.1037/ 0882-7974.23.1.154
25. Gilboa-Schechtman, E., & Foa, E. B. (2001). Patterns of recovery from trauma: The use of intraindividual analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 392-400. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.110.3.392
26. Goenjian, A. K., Najarian, L. M., Pynoos, R. S., Steinberg, A. M., Manoukian, G., Tavosian, A., & Fairbanks, L. A. (1994). Posttraumatic stress disorder in elderly and younger adults after the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 895-901.
27. Hedeker, D., & Gibbons, R. D. (1997). Application of random-effects pattern-mixture models in longitudinal studies. Psychological Methods, 2, 64-78. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.2.1.64
28. Holman, E. A., Silver, R. C., & Waitzkin, H. (2000). Traumatic life events in primary care patients: A study in an ethnically-diverse sample. Archives of Family Medicine, 9, 802-810. doi:10.1001/archfami.9.9.802
29. Huerta, F., & Horton, R. (1978). Coping behavior of elderly flood victims. Gerontologist, 18, 541-546. doi:10.1093/geront/18.6.541
30. Kato, H., Asukai, N., Miyake, Y., Minakawa, K., & Nishiyama, A. (1996). Post-traumatic symptoms among younger and elderly evacuees in the early stages following the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in Japan. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 93, 477-481. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1996.tb10680.x
31. Kessler, R. C. (2003). Epidemiology of women and depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 74, 5-13. doi:10.1016/S0165-0327(02)00426-3
32. Kessler, R. C., McGonagle, K. A., Zhao, S., Nelson, C. B., Hughes, M., Eshleman, S.,... Kendler, K. S. (1994). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 8-19. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1994.03950010008002
33. Kessler, R. C., Sonnega, A., Bromet, E., Hughes, M., & Nelson, C. B. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Sur-vey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 1048-1060. doi:10.1001/ archpsyc.1995.03950240066012
34. Knight, B. G., Gatz, M., Heller, K., & Bengston, V. L. (2000). Age and emotional response to the Northridge earthquake: A longitudinal analysis. Psychology and Aging, 15, 627-634. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.15.4.627
35. Lamet, A., Szuchman, L., Perkel, L., & Walsh, S. (2009). Risk factors, resilience, and psychological distress among Holocaust and Non-Holocaust survivors in the post-9/11 environment. Educational Gerontology, 35, 32-46. doi:10.1080/03601270802349403
36. Livingston, H. M., Livingston, M. G., Brooks, D. N., & McKinlay, W. W. (1992). Elderly survivors of the Lockerbie air disaster. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 7, 725-729. doi:10.1002/ gps.930071007
37. Löckenhoff, C. E., & Carstensen, L. L. (2004). Socioemotional selectivity theory, aging, and health: The increasingly delicate balance between regulating emotions and making tough choices. Journal of Personality, 72, 1395-1424. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00301.x
38. Marshall, R. D., Bryant, R. A., Amsel, L., Suh, E. J., Cook, J. M., & Neria, Y. (2007). The psychology of ongoing threat: Relative risk appraisal, the September 11 attacks, and terrorism-related fears. American Psychologist, 62, 304-316. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.304
39. McAdams, D. P., de St. Aubin, E., & Logan, R. L. (1993). Generativity among young, midlife, and older adults. Psychology and Aging, 8, 221-230. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.8.2.221
40. Monahan, K., & Lurie, A. (2007). Reactions of senior citizens to 9/11: Exploration and practice guidelines for social workers. Social Work in Health Care, 45, 33-47. doi:10.1300/J010v45n01_03
41. Mroczek, D. K., & Kolarz, C. M. (1998). The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A developmental perspective on happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1333-1349. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.5.1333
42. Neria, Y., DiGrande, L., & Adams, B. G. (2011). Posttraumatic stress disorder following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks: A review of the literature among highly exposed populations. American Psychologist, 66, 429-446. doi:10.1037/a0024791
43. Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J., Watson, P. J., Byrne, C. M., Diaz, E., & Kaniasty, K. (2002). 60,000 disaster victims speak: Part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981-2001. Psychiatry, 65, 207-239. doi:10.1521/psyc.65.3.207.20173
44. North, C. S., & Pfefferbaum, B. (2002). Research on the mental health effects of terrorism. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 633-636. doi:10.1001/jama.288.5.633
45. Phifer, J. F. (1990). Psychological distress and somatic symptoms after natural disaster: Differential vulnerability among older adults. Psychology and Aging, 5, 412-420. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.5.3.412
46. Ram, N., Gerstorf, D., Fauth, E., Zarit, S., & Malmberg, B. (2010). Aging, disablement, and dying: Using time-as-process and time-as-resources metrics to chart late-life change. Research in Human Development, 7, 27-44. doi:10.1080/15427600903578151
47. Schlenger, W. E., Caddell, J. M., Ebert, L., Jordan, B. K., Rourke, K. M., Wilson, D.,... Kulka, R. A. (2002). Psychological reactions to terrorist attacks: Findings from the National Study of Americans' Reactions to September 11. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 581-588. doi:10.1001/jama.288.5.581
48. Schulz, R., & Heckhausen, J. (1998). Emotion and control: A life-span perspective. In K. W. Schaie & M. P. Lawton (Eds.), Annual review of gerontology and geriatrics (Vol. 17, pp. 185-205). New York, NY: Springer.
49. Schuster, M. A., Stein, B. D., Jaycox, L. H., Collins, R. L., Marshall, G. N., Elliott, M. N.,... Berry, S. H. (2001). A national survey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. New England Journal of Medicine, 345, 1507-1512. doi:10.1056/NEJM200111153452024
50. Shenk, D., Ramos, B., Kalaw, K. J., & Tufan, I. (2009). History, memory, and disasters among older adults: A life course perspective. Traumatology, 15, 35-43. doi:10.1177/1534765609359729
51. Silver, R. C. (2011). An introduction to 9/11: 10 years later. American Psychologist, 66, 427-428. doi:10.1037/a0024804
52. Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., McIntosh, D. N., Poulin, M., & Gil-Rivas, V. (2002). Nationwide longitudinal study of psychological responses to September 11. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 1235-1244. doi:10.1001/jama.288.10.1235
53. Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., McIntosh, D. N., Poulin, M., Gil-Rivas, V., & Pizarro, J. (2006). Coping with a national trauma: A nationwide longitudinal study of responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11th. In Y. Neria, R. Gross, R. Marshall, & E. Susser (Eds.), 9/11: Mental health in the wake of terrorist attacks (pp. 45-70). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
54. Singer, J. D., & Willett, J. B. (2003). Applied longitudinal analysis: Modeling change and event occurrence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
55. Sliwinski, M. J., Almeida, D. M., Smyth, J., & Stawski, R. S. (2009). Intraindividual change and variability in daily stress processes: Findings from two measurement burst studies. Psychology and Aging, 24, 828-840. doi:10.1037/a0017925
56. Sliwinski, M. J., & Buschke, H. (1999). Cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships among age, cognition, and processing speed. Psychology and Aging, 14, 18-33. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.14.1.18
57. Sliwinski, M. J., Hoffman, L., & Hofer, S. M. (2010). Evaluating convergence of within-person change and between-person age differences in age-heterogeneous longitudinal studies. Research in Human Development, 7, 45-60. doi:10.1080/15427600903578169
58. Suvak, M., Maguen, S., Litz, B. T., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2008). Indirect exposure to the September 11 terrorist attacks: Does symptom structure resemble PTSD? Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21, 30-39. doi:10.1002/jts.20289
59. Thomsen, D. K., Mehlsen, M. Y., Viidik, A., Sommerlund, B., & Zachariae, R. (2005). Age and gender differences in negative affect: Is there a role for emotion regulation? Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1935-1946. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2004.12.001
60. Ticehurst, S., Webster, R. A., Carr, V. J., & Lewin, T. J. (1996). The psychosocial impact of an earthquake on the elderly. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 11, 943-951. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1166(199611)11:11_943::AID-GPS412_3.0.CO;2-B
61. Tracy, M., & Galea, S. (2006). Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression among older adults after a disaster: The role of ongoing trauma and stressors. Public Policy & Aging Report, 16, 16-19.
62. Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., & Freeman, E. C. (2012). Generational differences in young adults' life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation, 1966-2009. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1045-1062. doi:10.1037/a0027408
63. Urry, H. L., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Emotion regulation in older age. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19, 352-357. doi:10.1177/ 0963721410388395
64. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2011). Chronology of changes to the Homeland Security Advisory System. Retrieved from http:// www.dhs.gov/xabout/history/editorial_0844.shtm
65. Vaughan, E., & Wong, C. (2002). Predicting negative emotions from risk appraisals across the adult lifespan. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Irvine.
66. Wadsworth, M. E., Gudmundsen, G. R., Raviv, R., Ahlkvist, J. A., McIntosh, D. N., Kline, G. H.,... Burwell, R. A. (2004). Coping with terrorism: Age and gender differences in effortful and involuntary responses to September 11. Applied Developmental Science, 8, 143-157. doi:10.1207/s1532480xads0803_4
67. Weathers, F. W., Litz, B. T., Herman, D. S., Huska, J. A., & Keane, T. M. (1993, October). The PTSD Checklist: Reliability, validity and diagnos-tic utility. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, San Antonio, TX.
68. Weiss, D. S., & Marmar, C. R. (1997). The Impact of Events Scale- Revised. In J. P. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Eds.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 399-411). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
69. Wrosch, C., Heckhausen, J., & Lachman, M. E. (2000). Primary and secondary control strategies for managing health and financial stress across adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 15, 387-399. doi:10.1037/ 0882-7974.15.3.387