The effects of the Omagh bomb on adolescent mental health: a school-based study.

Michael Duffy,Andrew Percy,Michael Fitzgerald,John Moriarty,Anke Ehlers,David M Clark,Maura Mcdermott

doi:10.1186/s12888-015-0398-9

Michael Duffy, Andrew Percy + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0398-9

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Abstract

BackgroundThe main objective of this study was to assess psychiatric morbidity among adolescents following the Omagh car bombing in Northern Ireland in 1998.MethodsData was collected within schools from adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years via a self-completion booklet comprised of established predictors of PTSD; type of exposure, initial emotional response, long-term adverse physical problems, predictors derived from Ehlers and Clark’s (2000) cognitive model, a PTSD symptoms measure (PDS) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ).ResultsThose with more direct physical exposure were significantly more likely to meet caseness on the GHQ and the PDS. The combined pre and peri trauma risk factors highlighted in previous meta-analyses accounted for 20% of the variance in PDS scores but the amount of variance accounted for increased to 56% when the variables highlighted in Ehlers and Clark’s cognitive model for PTSD were added.ConclusionsHigh rates of chronic PTSD were observed in adolescents exposed to the bombing. Whilst increased exposure was associated with increased psychiatric morbidity, the best predictors of PTSD were specific aspects of the trauma (‘seeing someone you think is dying’), what you are thinking during the event (‘think you are going to die’) and the cognitive mechanisms employed after the trauma. As these variables are in principle amenable to treatment the results have implications for teams planning treatment interventions after future traumas.

Highlights

The main objective of this study was to assess psychiatric morbidity among adolescents following the Omagh car bombing in Northern Ireland in 1998
The present study investigates whether the psychological factors proposed in Ehlers and Clark’s cognitive model may be helpful in predicting chronic post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescents following a bombing
While the numbers of adolescents reporting symptoms of probable caseness are relatively small (n = 103 PTSD symptoms measure (PDS) caseness; n = 379 General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) caseness), those young people exposed to the bombing are significantly more likely to be classified above the case threshold on both the PDS and GHQ than those young people who reported no exposure to the bombing

Summary

Introduction

The main objective of this study was to assess psychiatric morbidity among adolescents following the Omagh car bombing in Northern Ireland in 1998. A considerable amount of research has been published on the psychological effects of traumatic events on children, adolescents and adults. A range of mental health problems develop after trauma, the most common disorder reported is post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [1] which is associated with intrusive memories of the event, hyperarousal symptoms and avoidance of reminders [2]. The Omagh Bombing On 15 August 1998, the largest single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict took place in Omagh, a market town with a population of 26,000, when a car bomb exploded in the town centre. The primary aim of this study was to assess the extent of psychiatric morbidity among adolescents (aged 14 to 18 years) after the bombing.

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