EFFECTS OF THE TERRORIST ATTACK 17 OCTOBER 2018 IN KERCH ON MENTAL ECOLOGY OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIETY: A POPULATIONBASED SURVEY AND CONTENT ANALYSIS OF INTERNET RESOURCES AND MASS MEDIA

Abstract

Aim: To study the signs of destruction of mental ecology of the Russian society after the terrorist attack on 17 October 2018 in Kerch by the assessment of the changes in values, perceptions, and attitudes of the population after the terrorist act, as well as the influence of the mass media and Internet resources. Methods: We performed a population-based cross-sectional survey of residents of the Irkutsk region (n = 1 200) as well as content analysis of the media and Internet resources (n = 61) shortly after the attack. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis. Unpaired t-test was used to study differences between the means of continuous variables. Results: We revealed a significant impact of the college shooting incident in Kerch on personal and social attitudes, perceptions and expectations being mostly negative in their nature, reinforce fears, alienation and anxiety contributing to the destruction of the mental ecology of the society. It was revealed that fear (P = 0.06), depression (P = 0.004) and activity (P = 0.002) were more important factors for the males, although not always reaching the level of statistical significance while anxiety (P = 0.05), indifference (P = 0.007) and empathy (P = 0.002) were more important for the females. The dominant state during an act of mass violence was fear for both the younger- (P = 0.05) and the older- (P=0.04) generations. At the same time, the younger generation was better characterized by activity (P = 0.006), indifference (P = 0.004) and empathy (P = 0.005) while depression (P = 0.003) and anxiety (P = 0.004) were more typical for the older generation. Conclusions: Our study demonstrate that mass violence, constantly discussed in the media and on the Internet, increases the level of anxiety and depression among the people and destroys mental ecology of the society. Significant differences in the reaction on the information across genders and generations were observed.