The Bidirectional Relationship between Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Social Support in a 9/11-Exposed Cohort: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Analysis

Sze Yan Liu, Jiehui Li, Lydia F. Leon, Ralf Schwarzer and James E. Cone
Additional contact information
Sze Yan Liu: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York, NY 10279, USA
Jiehui Li: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York, NY 10279, USA
Lydia F. Leon: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York, NY 10279, USA
Ralf Schwarzer: Department of Psychology, Freie University of Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
James E. Cone: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York, NY 10279, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-10

Abstract: Research on the longitudinal relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social support among survivors of large-scale trauma is limited. This study assessed bidirectional relationships between PTSD and perceived social support in a large sample of the 9/11-exposed cohort over a 14-year follow-up. We used data from 23,165 World Trade Center Health Registry (WTCHR) enrollees who were exposed to the 9/11 attacks and participated in the first four WTCHR surveys (Wave 1 (2003–2004) to Wave 4 (2015–2016)). PTSD symptoms were measured using the 17-item PTSD Checklist. Perceived social support was measured using the five-item version of the Modified Social Support Survey. We used a cross-lagged panel analysis and found an inverse relationship between PTSD symptoms and social support. PTSD at Wave 2 (W2) predicted less social support at Wave 3 (W3) (β = −0.10, p < 0.01), and PTSD at W3 predicted less social support at W4 (β = −0.05, p < 0.01). Conversely, social support at W3 buffered PTSD symptoms at W4 (β = −0.03, p < 0.05). Sub-analyses by types of perceived social support suggest greater effects of PTSD on emotional support than tangible support and in community members than rescue/recovery workers. Our findings suggest a bidirectional effect between PTSD symptoms and social support in a longitudinal study of 9/11-exposed populations.

Keywords: posttraumatic stress disorder; 9/11 disaster; social support; World Trade Center; longitudinal study; cross-lagged analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2604/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2604/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2604-:d:757213

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().