Psychological Responses to 9/11: Implications of Parental Loss and Other Types of Loss

1. Reactions to 9/11: The Developmental Implications of Parental Death and Other Types of Loss Michael Ousdahl April 24, 2006 School of Social Ecology Dept. of Psychology and Social Behavior University of California, Irvine

2. The Attacks of 9/11 • The attacks of 9/11 resulted in a transformation of American society • Prior held attitudes and beliefs were changed forever • The attacks resulted in unique changes in social, emotional, and cognitive belief-systems

3. Reflection: 9/11/01 • People can usually recall the exact location of “where they were” on that morning • Why? • Fear • Uncertainty • Anger • Etc…

4. Exercise: What Do These Images Bring To Mind?

5. Introduction • Individuals respond and cope to traumas in a multitude of ways • The present study sought to investigate differences in psychological responses based on prior experiences with parental death and other types of loss

6. Introduction (cont) • The study involves an investigation into how psychological responses to trauma, specifically following the attacks on 9/11 differed: • Among those who have experienced parental death across the lifespan • A comparison of other forms of loss (e.g., parental divorce) to parental death specifically during adolescence

7. Developmental Period and Other Types of Loss • As individuals adjust to bereavement experiences, differences in coping result from the unique social, emotional, and cognitive psychological response mechanisms that are formed following the trauma • Power to influence both the experience and interpretation of future events across the lifespan • The type of loss that occurs, whether it is death of a parent, friend, sibling, grandparent, suicide, or parental divorce, can influence these psychological response mechanisms

8. What We Know: Loss and Developmental Period • The experience and interpretation of traumatic experiences in adulthood has been tied to events occurring during earlier points in the lifespan • Bereaved individuals continue to experience distressing symptoms and painful memories of a significant loss throughout their lifespan, which can undoubtedly impact how future events are responded to and interpreted (Wortman & Silver, 2001) • Re-grief phenomenon: individuals experience a resurgence of grief as they re-evaluate and re-accommodate the past loss in their current life stage (Miller, 1995)

9. What We Know: Other Types of Loss In Adolescence • Abundance of studies comparing parental death vs. parental divorce in adolescence • Results have sent a mixed message: • Some have shown differences (Short, 2002; Short 1998; Neher & Short, 1998) • Some have shown similarities (Servaty & Hayslip, 2001) • Three most likely deaths to occur in adolescence (Balk & Corr, 1996): • Parental death, sibling death, friend death • No study to date has compared different types of loss in adolescence

10. What We Know: Conclusions From The Research Literature • Developmentally, the stage at which the death is experienced invariably influences future interpretation of events framed around the unique developmental tasks and transitions at later points across the lifespan • Despite numerous studies examining parental death vs. parental divorce, the results are mixed at best. In addition, a void exists in a lack of comparison among other types of loss occurring during this developmental period

11. Importance of The Current Study: • Addresses two fundamental lapses in the research literature: • 1. The importance of a developmental component to parental death on the interpretation/meaning assigned to future events across the lifespan • 2. A comparison of parental death vs. other types of loss occurring in adolescence on the interpretation/meaning assigned to future events across the lifespan

12. Central Question • The current study involves an investigation of how psychological responses to trauma, specifically following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, differed among those who experienced parental death at various points across the lifespan • Additionally, the study compares other forms of loss (e.g., parental divorce) to parental death that specifically occurs during adolescence

13. Central Question Con’t • The study’s primary aim is to investigate differences in cognitive, emotional, and social psychological responses to 9/11 among those who have lost a parent • Developmental context: Childhood (0-12yrs) vs. Adolescence (13-17yrs) vs. Young Adulthood (18-40yrs) vs. Middle Adulthood (41-64yrs) vs. Older Adulthood (65+) • Other types of loss in adolescence: parental loss vs. sibling loss vs. friend loss vs. grandparent loss vs. suicide vs. parental divorce • Compared on psychological responses to 9/11: world benevolence, world meaningfulness, positive affect, life satisfaction, and the BSI (Brief Symptom Inventory) measuring psychological distress

14. Research Hypotheses • People who experience parental loss will respond significantly differently to the attacks of 9/11 based on developmental period • People who experience parental death vs. other types of loss in adolescence will respond significantly differently to the attacks of 9/11

15. Research Methodology • Sample: A secondary data analysis of an existing data set • Originates from the study Coping with a national trauma: A longitudinal study of responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11th led by Dr. Roxane Silver (2005) • Nationally representative panel of individuals who were originally recruited by Knowledge Networks, Inc. using random digit dialing • Completed anonymous web-based surveys in exchange for a free Internet connection • Over 2000 individuals were assessed within the first month after the attacks and over the subsequent three years

16. Research Methodology (cont) • Independent Variables: • Developmental period of parental death: • Childhood (0-12years): N = 49 • Adolescence (13-17yrs): N = 39 • Early adulthood (18-40yrs): N = 548 • Middle adulthood (41-64yrs): N = 772 • Late adulthood (65 +): N = 43

17. Research Methodology (cont) • Independent Variables: -Types of loss occurring in adolescence: • Parental loss: N = 39 • Sibling loss: N = 23 • Grandparent loss: N = 299 • Friend loss: N = 222 • Divorce: N = 88 • Suicide: N = 32

18. Research Methodology (cont) • Dependent Variables • World benevolence • World meaningfulness • Positive affect • Life satisfaction • Psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory)

19. Results • Importance of Developmental period • Those in the early adulthood group ( = .052; p < .05), when compared to those who didn’t experience parental loss, had significantly less strong beliefs in the benevolence of the world

20. Results (cont) • Types of loss in adolescence • When compared to all others in the sample, individuals who lost a friend in adolescence reported: • Less strong beliefs in the benevolence of the world (M = 3.74 vs. M = 3.45, t = 5.55, p < .01) • Less frequent positive affect (M = 3.65 vs. M = 3.52, t = 2.468, p < .05) • Lower life satisfaction (M = 4.54 vs. M = 4.18, t = 3.173, p < .01) • Higher psychological distress (M = 0.359 vs. M = 0.449, t = -2.077, p < .05) • When compared to all others in the sample, individuals who experienced suicide loss reported: • Lower life satisfaction (M = 4.46 vs. M = 3.77, t = 2.506, p < .05)

21. Conclusions • Hypotheses partially supported: • Developmental period • Those who experienced parental death in early adulthood (18-40), as compared to those who reported no loss, reported lower views of the benevolence of the world

22. Conclusions (cont) • Other types of loss in adolescence: • People who lost a friend in adolescence, when compared to those who had other kinds of losses in adolescence, reported less strong beliefs in the benevolence of the world, less frequent positive affect, lower life satisfaction, and higher psychological distress when responding to the attacks of 9/11 • People who experienced suicide loss in adolescence, when compared to those who had other kinds of losses in adolescence, reported lower life satisfaction when responding to the attacks of 9/11

23. Conclusions (cont) • The importance of developmental period: • Underscores the importance of acknowledging how past experiences with loss, in this case parental death across different developmental periods, continues to influence responses to future events such as 9/11 • Comparing other types of loss in a specific developmental period: • Demonstrates how varying types of loss, even within the same developmental period, results in differences in response to events such as 9/11/01

24. Acknowledgments • Dr. Roxane Cohen Silver • Dr. Alison Holman • Dr. Valerie Jenness • Social Ecology Honors Program • Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program

25. Contact Info: • Michael Ousdahl • 62534 Arroyo Dr. • Irvine, CA 92617 • (949) 351-1110 • mousdahl@uci.edu