Resilience emotions and acute stress reactions in the population of Dimona and the general population of Israel two days after the first suicide bombing attack in Dimona.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: On 4 February 2008, two terrorists armed with suicide bombs arrived atthe open market in the southern Israeli city of Dimona. One detonated his bomb at approximately 1030 a.m. causing multiple casualties. Short-term emotional effects and acute stress reactions usually appear among survivors after such incidents. OBJECTIVES: To compare the differences in emotions and in disturbances of daily life activities that emerge a couple of days following such an event and to identify patterns of stress development among resilient and low-resilient members of the population in Dimona and in the general population of Israel. METHODS: A telephone survey of two randomly selected representative samples of adults (428 Israeli residents and 250 Dimona residents) was conducted 2 days afterthe event. RESULTS: A higher prevalence of stress and fear and a lower prevalence of joy were reported among the population of Dimona compared to the general population in Israel (P < 0.05). Differences were also recorded when the population of Dimona was categorized by its personal degree of resilience (P < 0.05). A higher prevalence of disturbances in daily life activities and changes in leisure activity was found in the low-resilient population in Dimona (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that following a public terror event, self-reported low-resilient subjects have a higher prevalence of disturbances in daily life activities, as well as adverse emotional responses. These differences must be addressed by the relevant social service agencies for immediate public intervention.