Abstract
Following exposures to traumatic events on 9/11, survivors have reported heightened levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Multiple factors contribute to both the exacerbation and amelioration of PTSD symptoms, including social integration and support. This cross-sectional study aimed to understand and identify associations of embeddedness and psychosocial risk factors by PTSD status for survivors and first responders of 9/11. Results indicate that those with chronic PTSD had the lowest prevalence of both social and emotional embeddedness and many who reported no PTSD symptoms following 9/11 reported moderate levels of social and emotional embeddedness. Overall, our findings suggest those individuals who reported little to no PTSD also reported the most social/emotional embeddedness; whereas those individuals who report greater or chronic PTSD report the least social/emotional embeddedness. As such, it may be beneficial for clinicians across multiple care disciplines and contexts to consider and address the social lives and needs of those individuals experiencing symptoms of PTSD to ensure their emotional and physical needs are truly being met.
Highlights
The analytic sample for this study was restricted to enrollees who participated in the Health and Quality of Life (HQoL) 15 years after the 9/11 survey, which was an in-depth study of a subset of rescue and recovery workers and survivors who indicated they had sustained injuries on 9/11 and a comparison group of non-injured persons (n = 6544)
Findings from this study suggest that individuals who reported experiencing no symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reported greater emotional and social embeddedness, whereas those who reported symptoms of PTSD, whether chronic, delayed, or recovered, were less likely to do so
This study helps to better expand on potential factors that may improve social and emotional functioning for those individuals experiencing symptoms of PTSD. Among those enrollees who ever experienced PTSD symptoms, we found that the recovered group tended to report the highest levels of social and emotional embeddedness, followed by the delayed group, with the lowest prevalence reported by the chronic group
Summary
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most prevalent mental health outcome among individuals directly and indirectly exposed to the terrorist attacks on 11 September (9/11) [1,2,3], and among those who experienced trauma (e.g., injury, loss of a loved one) [4,5,6]. There are multiple mechanisms associated with PTSD (e.g., emotional engagement, stress tolerance, extinction, negative post-traumatic experiences), most of which tend to be driven by one’s psychology neurobiology, epigenetics, and/or biology. One of the psychological implications of PTSD is the avoidance of participation in social life, such as going to work or engaging in leisure activities. As a result of PTSD-related social withdrawal, there is often an increased and problematic use of substances such as alcohol, illicit drugs, and other substances with psychoactive properties [6,7,8]. A lack of social support and social integration have been shown to be related to long-term
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
