Symptomatology of posttraumatic stress disorder and empathy in a non-directly affected

The March 11, 2004, terrorist attacks produced a hard impact on the Spanish population. The main aim of this study was to analyse their effects after 3-4 months of the attacks comparing people from the Madrid and the Valencian Autonomic Communities. Moreover, the effect of gender as a modulating factor has been analysed. For this purpose, data from 100 people who, at the moment of the attacks, were in Madrid (n = 50) or Valencia (n = 50) were obtained. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were more frequent in people who were close to the directly affected sites by the terrorist attacks and in the case of women. Empathy was also higher depending on the proximity to the place of the attacks and in women; the former contributed to the development of PTSD symptoms. Emotional impact of different events, such as those produced in the case of terrorist attacks, has a negative effect on the general population s psychological health, not only on people directly affected. Closeness to the directly affected sites increases this effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)