Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach
Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms are more prevalent in women than in men. To improve our understanding of gender differences in PTSD, detailed knowledge about the underlying symptom networks and gender specific symptom profiles is needed.Objective: We aimed to describe the gender difference...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02091/full |
| _version_ | 1811234965489188864 |
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| author | Marianne S. Birkeland Ines Blix Øivind Solberg Trond Heir Trond Heir |
| author_facet | Marianne S. Birkeland Ines Blix Øivind Solberg Trond Heir Trond Heir |
| author_sort | Marianne S. Birkeland |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms are more prevalent in women than in men. To improve our understanding of gender differences in PTSD, detailed knowledge about the underlying symptom networks and gender specific symptom profiles is needed.Objective: We aimed to describe the gender differences in levels of individual posttraumatic stress symptoms after a terrorist attack, as well as identify possible gender differences in associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms.Method: This study used survey data from ministerial employees directly (n = 190) and indirectly (n = 1,615) exposed to the 2011 Oslo bombing. Data was collected approximately 10 months after the event. In order to investigate gender differences in levels of symptoms, we used bootstrapped means and standard deviations. Network analyses were conducted to identify gender differences in the associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms.Results: Women reported higher levels of all symptoms, and the strongest effect sizes were found for symptoms of re-experiencing, and anxious and dysphoric arousal. Among individuals with considerable levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms, women reported higher levels of physiological cue activity and exaggerated startle response. No significant gender differences in the networks of posttraumatic stress were found.Conclusions: The present results find no indication that the gender difference in prevalence of PTSD can be explained by differences in associations between symptoms. In order to determine if this finding can be applied to other participants and circumstances, future studies should seek to replicate this study in both community and clinical samples. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:44:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aa0fe7df32484e86a49fb55bf918839f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:44:13Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-aa0fe7df32484e86a49fb55bf918839f2022-12-22T03:34:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782017-12-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.02091301866Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network ApproachMarianne S. Birkeland0Ines Blix1Øivind Solberg2Trond Heir3Trond Heir4Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, NorwayNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, NorwayNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, NorwayNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, NorwayFaculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayBackground: Posttraumatic stress symptoms are more prevalent in women than in men. To improve our understanding of gender differences in PTSD, detailed knowledge about the underlying symptom networks and gender specific symptom profiles is needed.Objective: We aimed to describe the gender differences in levels of individual posttraumatic stress symptoms after a terrorist attack, as well as identify possible gender differences in associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms.Method: This study used survey data from ministerial employees directly (n = 190) and indirectly (n = 1,615) exposed to the 2011 Oslo bombing. Data was collected approximately 10 months after the event. In order to investigate gender differences in levels of symptoms, we used bootstrapped means and standard deviations. Network analyses were conducted to identify gender differences in the associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms.Results: Women reported higher levels of all symptoms, and the strongest effect sizes were found for symptoms of re-experiencing, and anxious and dysphoric arousal. Among individuals with considerable levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms, women reported higher levels of physiological cue activity and exaggerated startle response. No significant gender differences in the networks of posttraumatic stress were found.Conclusions: The present results find no indication that the gender difference in prevalence of PTSD can be explained by differences in associations between symptoms. In order to determine if this finding can be applied to other participants and circumstances, future studies should seek to replicate this study in both community and clinical samples.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02091/fullPTSDsex differencesgender differencestraumatologyterrorismnetwork analysis |
| spellingShingle | Marianne S. Birkeland Ines Blix Øivind Solberg Trond Heir Trond Heir Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach Frontiers in Psychology PTSD sex differences gender differences traumatology terrorism network analysis |
| title | Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach |
| title_full | Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach |
| title_fullStr | Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach |
| title_short | Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach |
| title_sort | gender differences in posttraumatic stress symptoms after a terrorist attack a network approach |
| topic | PTSD sex differences gender differences traumatology terrorism network analysis |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02091/full |
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