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Article
The Impact of Death Anxiety, Meaning and Coping on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Psychiatric Co-Morbidity Among Iraqi Civilians Exposed to a Car Bomb Attack A Latent Class Analysis
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
  • Man Cheung Chung, Zayed University
  • Fuaad Mohammed Freh, University Of Anbar
ORCID Identifiers

0000-0002-2802-3656

Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Abstract

Much has been documented that the experience of a bombing is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder and psychiatric co-morbidity. Whether the co-existing relationship between death anxiety, meaning in life and coping styles would influence the aforementioned association is unknown. The present study aimed to identify latent classes of victims with different levels of death anxiety, meaning in life and coping styles, and to examine whether the severity of PTSD and co-morbid psychiatric symptoms differed between classes. One hundred and eighty-five victims who had experienced the first car bombing completed a demographic page, the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnosis Scale, General Health Questionnaire-28, Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire and Coping Responses Inventory. The results showed that 82% and 18% of the victims met the criteria for PTSD and no-PTSD, respectively. Four classes of victims were identified: Class 1 victims were approach copers with low levels of death anxiety and meaning. Class 2 victims were minimal copers with high levels of death anxiety and meaning. Class 3 victims were approach copers with a high level of death anxiety and meaning. Class 4 victims were avoidance copers with high levels of death anxiety. Individuals in Class 1 reported significantly lower levels of PTSD and psychiatric co-morbidity than the other three classes. Class 3 victims also reported significantly lower levels of psychiatric co-morbidity than Class 2 victims. To conclude, victims exposed to a car bombing were likely to exhibit posttraumatic stress symptoms in addition to other psychological symptoms. The severity of these symptoms tended to be lower among those who had little fear of death, did not search for meaning in life and approached their distress proactively.

Publisher
SAGE Publications
Keywords
  • bombing,
  • coping,
  • death anxiety,
  • latent class analysis,
  • meaning
Scopus ID
85120639067
Indexed in Scopus
Yes
Open Access
No
https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211055152
Citation Information
Man Cheung Chung and Fuaad Mohammed Freh. "The Impact of Death Anxiety, Meaning and Coping on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Psychiatric Co-Morbidity Among Iraqi Civilians Exposed to a Car Bomb Attack A Latent Class Analysis" Journal of Interpersonal Violence (2021) ISSN: <a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/0886-2605" target="_blank">0886-2605</a>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/man-chung/40/