RAPID: Responding to Terror (Again): A National Study of the Boston Marathon Bombings

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

The recent bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 was the first large scale terror attack on US soil since September 11, 2001. Dual bombs were detonated on a symbolic target; over 25,000 runners participated in the marathon from around the US and the world; thousands more watched from the streets. Three individuals lost their lives in the bombings, dozens more lost their limbs, and hundreds were maimed and injured; thousands of friends and family members of runners were also affected. Reporters' and spectators' cameras filmed the mayhem and over the next weeks these images were shown repeatedly in both traditional and social media around the world. The city of Boston was locked down as the perpetrators were chased. Dr. Roxane Silver (University of California-Irvine) and her team will conduct a study to examine the national impact of the Boston Marathon bombings. To do so, they will work in collaboration with a Web-based survey research firm that has recruited a nationally representative panel of individuals for online data collection. They will collect data from 4100 individuals following the Boston Marathon bombings, including a representative sample of 800 Boston residents, 800 New York residents, and a nationally representative comparison sample (N=2500). Data collection will start within two weeks of the bombings and ten days after the Boston lockdown and subsequent death and capture of the alleged bombers. Respondents will complete assessments of acute stress response, as well as report the degree of exposure (direct and media) to the bombings, their aftermath, and other recent major collective traumas (e.g., Superstorm Sandy, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings). The specific aims of this research are: 1) to investigate the psychological and social processes that help explain individual differences in response to a national traumatic event (i.e., the Boston Marathon bombings); 2) to compare responses to the Boston Marathon bombings among individuals who have directly experienced prior collective traumas (e.g., 9/11, Superstorm Sandy, the Sandy Hook School shootings) to individuals who have not directly experienced such events in the past; and 3) to explore the role of traditional and social media exposure in explaining acute stress responses. A terrorist attack psychologically targets an entire population, not merely those in physical proximity to the attack. Most research on reactions to traumatic events, disasters, and mass-murders has addressed the impact on those directly affected; the psychological consequences for individuals beyond the immediate community where the event occurs are largely unexplored. Information collected in this research will further an understanding of the unique needs of individuals traumatized by terrorism (directly or via the media), and provide information to help identify those at risk for subsequent difficulties following major traumatic events. This study may help policymakers, service providers, and the community at large design educational and intervention efforts that are more cost-effective and more sensitive to the needs of the populace.