The Treatment of Children Impacted by the World Trade Center Attack

Abstract

This article presents, from a developmental perspective, the authors' experiences treating children and families who were traumatized by and who lost relatives in the World Trade Center attack. The treatments took place within the Trauma Treatment Development Center, National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, New York, of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Case vignettes address treatments for toddlers, preschool, and school-age children and adolescents. Family, individual cognitive-behavioral, school, social, and parenting treatment strategies utilized are discussed.     

The Effect of 9/11 on the Heritability of Political Trust

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, a rally effect led to a precipitous rise in political trust. However, the increase in political trust concealed a simultaneous decline among a smaller portion of the population. This article examines the psychological mechanisms underlying these heterogeneous attitudes towards government and shows that a biosocial model best explains the observed patterns of response. The interplay of genetic and environmental factors of political trust reveals the stable but dynamic nature of heritability: genetic influences of political trust increased immediately following 9/11 but quickly decayed to pre‐9/11 levels.     

Parents, children, and trauma: Parent role perceptions and behaviors related to the 9/11 tragedy

The trauma associated with 9/11 affected and continues to influence children, families, and other groups of people. While research is cataloging the various coping difficulties experienced, few studies specifically address issues related to parenting perceptions and related activities or behaviors. We examined individuals employed in close proximity to Ground Zero and considered these individuals’ perspectives regarding their parenting perceptions and behaviors. In addition to capturing parenting subsequent to 9/11, the researchers also asked participants about their parenting beliefs and behaviors prior to and immediately after 9/11. Additional variables, such as directly viewing 9/11 and participating in the evacuation, parent age and gender, child age and gender, and ethnicity, were considered in light of parenting beliefs and practices. The retrospective questions, while not ideal methodologically, reveal that some parent characteristics and behaviors changed immediately following 9/11 and subsequently returned to pre-9/11 levels, others changed and remain altered, while others stayed relatively stable over time. Implications of this research for further study as well as mental health practice related to children and families are presented.     

A Defining Presidential Moment: 9/11 and the Rally Effect

Public approval ratings of George W. Bush surged after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. This study used a quasi–experimental, within–respondents design to investigate the relative contribution of five factors to this classic rally effect: the stimulus event itself, Bush's speech that evening, media exposure, partisan support, and gender effects. Respondents were pretested on the morning of the attacks; one group was posttested immediately after the speech, another group 41 hours later. Stability of effects was examined through an additional study of Bush's 20 September 2001 speech to a joint session of Congress. The findings indicate that Bush's 11 September speech was the critical factor in this rally effect; none of the other factors contributed significantly.     

Terrorism and the New Forms of War

Abstract: The March 2003 American preemptive strike on Iraq and related events pose entirely new conceptual questions about the notion of a valid war. A “war on terrorism” goes well beyond any usual version of the “just‐war” concept, which is itself notoriously difficult, if not impossible, to apply in current international circumstances. The implications of the emerging forms of war are examined and are found to bear in an unexpected way on justifying war, “just war,” and justice in distributional and related respects.     

Some of the Effects of Terrorism on Refugees

Summary

Highly traumatized people are vulnerable to exacerbation of symptoms when confronted with stressful situations. The extensive TV coverage of the 9/11 attacks provided such a stressful stimulus. Many patients from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Somalia, and Bosnia had severe reactions. Nightmares and flashbacks occurred most among So-malis, who felt less safe; depressive symptoms increased most among Bosnians. Encouraging patients to turn off the TV was very therapeutic. The Patriot Act severely affected refugee immigration to the United States, leaving many families separated and increasing suspicions of discrimination among Muslim refugees. Terrorism's effects are pervasive and destructive. Some countermeasures may have similar unintended consequences.     

The flexible application of a manualized treatment for PTSD symptoms and functional impairment related to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack

The purpose of this treatment effectiveness study was to evaluate the flexible application of a manualized cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for PTSD and related symptoms in survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Treatment delivery ranged from 12 to 25 sessions; therapist experience ranged from no prior training to extensive training in CBT; and training and supervision of clinicians in the treatment manual was considerably less than that required in a randomized clinical trial (RCT). Paired t-tests demonstrated significant pre-post reductions in symptoms of PTSD and depression for the flexible application of the treatment. A benchmarking analysis revealed that the moderate-to-large effect sizes found for these variables were similar to those obtained in an RCT of the same treatment. Furthermore, effect sizes on measures of outcomes particularly relevant to this population of mass violence survivors such as functional impairment, use of alcohol and drugs to cope, and use of social support to cope, were also medium to large.     

Group Identification under Conditions of Threat: College Students' Attachment to Country, Family, Ethnicity, Religion, and University Before and After September 11, 2001

Three classes of introductory psychology students at the University of Pennsylvania completed a survey including several measures of group identification on 20 March 2001, 15 September 2001, and 24 March 2003. Importance of country and university were rated higher four days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks than six months before or 18 months after. Scores on a 9-item scale of identification with country were higher immediately after 9/11 than at the other two assessments. Four theories (group dynamics, CORFing, TMT, SIT) are considered; none predicts the whole pattern of results observed. Discussion highlights group dynamics theory for understanding the increase in identification with country and introduces the possibility that the increase in identification with university might have been a response to experiencing 9/11 as loss of control. Discussion also highlights the value of assessing level of identification with multiple identity groups in order to see the complexity of identity dynamics.     

TV or not TV? Does the immediacy of viewing images of a momentous news event affect the quality and stability of flashbulb memories?

The flashbulb accounts of 38 participants concerning the September 11th 2001 terrorist attack reported at both 28 hours and 6 months following the event were examined for quantity, quality, and consistency as a function of the time lapse between first learning of the event and initial viewing of media images. The flashbulb accounts of those who reported seeing images at least an hour after learning of the event differed qualitatively, but not quantitatively, from accounts of participants who reported seeing images at the same time as or within minutes of learning of the event. Delayed viewing of images resulted in less elaborate and generally less consistent accounts across the 6-month interval. The results are discussed in terms of factors affecting flashbulb memory formation and individual differences in connectedness to the event.     

Trust in Government in the Aftermath of 9/11: Determinants and Consequences

Among the most notable changes in U.S. public opinion that occurred after 11 September 2001 was a significant increase in trust in the national government. This study extends existing research on the causes of such changes in public opinion to include the post–9/11 period. The results indicate that a shift in public focus from domestic to international concerns was an important factor in the decline in cynicism that occurred after 9/11, and that public support for expending resources to address issues such as homeland security will be greater if increased trust in government can be sustained.     

Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) calves appear to model their signature whistles on the signature whistles of community members

Bottlenose dolphins are unusual among non-human mammals in their ability to learn new sounds. This study investigates the importance of vocal learning in the development of dolphin signature whistles and the influence of social interactions on that process. We used focal animal behavioral follows to observe six calves in Sarasota Bay, Fla., recording their social associations during their first summer, and their signature whistles during their second. The signature whistles of five calves were determined. Using dynamic time warping (DTW) of frequency contours, the calves signature whistles were compared to the signature whistles of several sets of dolphins: their own associates, the other calves associates, Tampa Bay dolphins, and captive dolphins. Whistles were considered similar if their DTW similarity score was greater than those of 95% of the whistle comparisons. Association was defined primarily in terms of time within 50 m of the mother/calf pair. On average, there were six dolphins with signature whistles similar to the signature whistles of each of the calves. These were significantly more likely to be Sarasota Bay resident dolphins than non-Sarasota dolphins, and (though not significantly) more likely to be dolphins that were within 50 m of the mother and calf less than 5% of the time. These results suggest that calves may model their signature whistles on the signature whistles of members of their community, possibly community members with whom they associate only rarely.     

Group Threat, Collective Angst, and Ingroup Forgiveness for the War in Iraq

We examine the consequences of threat to the ingroup for emotional reactions to ingroup harm doing. It was hypothesized that reminders of a past threat to the ingroup would induce collective angst, and this emotional reaction would increase forgiveness of the ingroup for its harmful actions toward another group. In Experiment 1, Americans read an article about the war in Iraq that implied Americans would soon experience another attack or one where such implied future threat to the ingroup was absent. When the ingroup's future was threatened, forgiveness for the harm Americans have committed in Iraq was increased, to the extent that collective angst was induced. In Experiment 2, Americans experienced more collective angst and were more willing to forgive their ingroup for their group's present harm doing in Iraq following reminders of either the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, or the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor compared to when the victimization reminder was irrelevant to the ingroup. We discuss why ingroup threat encourages ingroup forgiveness for current harm doing.     

All on the Same Side: Reflections on the Dialogue Between Science and Religion

The 'war' between religion and science is winding down, creating new opportunities for fruitful dialogue. The foundations of indirect religion-science dialogue, where the perspectives of the two disciplines illuminate some third subject, are not well established. A detailed comparison of the Roman Catholic bishops' dialogues and a similar program within the American Association for the Advancement of Science illustrates the variety in formalscience-religion interactions and reveals much about the promise, achievements, and limitations of different approaches. Success depends in large part on controlling the diversity of the dialogue group, choosing topics carefully, and adopting positive and cooperative attitudes.