Citation

Shiri S, Wexler ID, Alkalay Y, Meiner Z, Kreitler S. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 2008; 196(12): 906-911.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. shimons3@post.tau.ac.il

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/NMD.0b013e31818ec80b

PMID

19077858

Abstract

The positive and negative psychological impact of secondary exposure to politically motivated violence was examined among body handlers and hospital rehabilitation workers, 2 groups that differed in their proximity and immediacy to violent events. Survivors of politically motivated violence served as a comparison group. Body handlers experienced high levels of positive psychological impact and traumatic stress symptoms. Levels of positive psychological impact among on-scene body handlers were higher than those experienced by rehabilitation workers. Traumatic stress symptoms predicted positive psychological impact among body handlers. These findings indicate that proximity to stressors is associated with higher levels of positive and negative psychological impact. Physical proximity is a major contributory factor to both positive and negative psychological effects of secondary exposure to trauma.

Language: en