Dataset Information

Emotional reactions in parents of the youth who experienced the Utoya shooting on 22 July 2011; results from a cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective and setting

The objective of this study was to provide knowledge about the emotional reactions in parents whose offspring experienced a mass shooting on Utøya island in Norway in 2011. The research questions included whether parents' reactions were influenced by their offspring's symptom level, age, living situation and parental gender.

Design

The study was designed as an open cohort study. The data were collected at two time points; 4-5?months and 14-15 months after the shooting.

Participants

The participants were 531 parents of youth exposed to the Utøya island attack.

Outcome measures

The Parental Emotional Reaction Questionnaire measured parents' reactions, and University of California, Los Angeles Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index measured youths' post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Results

Parental emotional reactions were positively related to post-traumatic stress reactions in offspring at wave 1: Est.=0.20, 95%?CI 0.10?to 0.30, p<0.001, over time (wave 1and wave 2 nested within individuals): Est.=0.23, CI 0.13?to 0.32, p<0.001, and at wave 2: Est.=0.26, CI 0.12?to 0.39, p<0.001. Youths' age was not significantly related to parental emotional reactions, neither at wave 1: Est.=0.19, CI -0.40?to 0.77, p=0.531, over time: Est.=0.26, CI -0.27?to 0.79, p=328, nor at wave 2: Est.=0.32, CI -0.41?to 1.05, p=0.389. Mothers were more emotionally upset than fathers both at wave 1: Est.=-5.66, CI -7.63?to -3.69, p<0.001, over time: Est.=-5.36, CI -7.18?to -3.55, p<0.001, and at wave 2: Est.=-5.33, CI -7.72?to -2.53, p<0.001.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that parenting after trauma should be addressed in outreach programmes and in planning of healthcare services.

SUBMITTER: Holt T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5652501 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Emotional reactions in parents of the youth who experienced the Utøya shooting on 22 July 2011; results from a cohort study.

Holt Tonje T Jensen Tine T Dyb Grete G Wentzel-Larsen Tore T

BMJ open 20171016 10

<h4>Objective and setting</h4>The objective of this study was to provide knowledge about the emotional reactions in parents whose offspring experienced a mass shooting on Utøya island in Norway in 2011. The research questions included whether parents' reactions were influenced by their offspring's symptom level, age, living situation and parental gender.<h4>Design</h4>The study was designed as an open cohort study. The data were collected at two time points; 4-5 months and 14-15 months after the ...[more]

PMID: 29042373

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) has been shown to efficiently treat children and youth exposed to traumatizing events. However, few studies have looked into mechanisms that may distinguish this treatment from other treatments. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the parents' emotional reactions and depressive symptoms change over the course of therapy in the treatment conditions of TF-CBT and Therapy as Usual (TAU), and whether changes in the reactions mediate the difference between the treatment conditions on child post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and child depressive symptoms. METHOD:A sample of 135 caregivers of 135 traumatized children and youth (M age?=?14.8, SD?=?2.2, 80% girls) was randomly assigned to receive either TF-CBT or TAU. The parents' emotional reactions were measured using the Parental Emotional Reaction Questionnaire (PERQ), and their depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The children's outcomes were post-traumatic stress (PTS) reactions and depression, as measured by the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents (CAPS-CA) and Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ), respectively. RESULTS:The parents' emotional reactions and depressive symptoms decreased significantly from pre- to post-therapy, but no significant differences between the two treatment conditions were found. The changes in reactions did not significantly mediate the treatment difference between TF-CBT and TAU on child PTS symptoms. However a mediating effect was found on child depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION:The results showed that although the parents experienced reductions in emotional reactions and depressive symptoms when their child received therapy, this was only significantly related to the difference in outcome between TF-CBT and TAU on child depressive symptoms. Possible explanations for these results are discussed along with the implications for clinicians and suggestions for future research. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CLINICAL TRIALS IDENTIFIER:NCT00635752.