Effects of social sharing of emotion about March Eleven trauma on vicarious victims

This longitudinal study evaluates the predictive validity of social sharing and expression of emotions about March-Eleven Madrid bombing. A questionnaire which measures social sharing of emotion, intensity of emotional arousal, rumination, subjective social support, loneliness, positive affect, benefices of trauma reaction and emotional climate was completed by around 1793 college students and student s relatives (38%) in six Spanish cities and 8 universities at three moments: one week after March-Eleven 2004 Madrid bombing, three weeks after and a two-months follow-up. Participants that share more about March-Eleven episode one week after, report three weeks after higher level of subjective social support, lower loneliness, higher positive affect and agree more with the intra-personal, interpersonal and social benefits of traumatic reaction. Similar results were found at two months follow-up and higher levels of social sharing predict a more positive perceived emotional and social climate. Results indicated that social sharing of emotion maintain and predict higher level of emotional upset at three weeks and two months follow-up. Results are discussed in a social functionalist framework of collective activities of remembering, including social sharing and participation in ceremonies and rituals: social and collective coping are functional.