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PTSD and Depression Among Museum Workers After the March 18 Bardo Museum Terrorist Attack

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Abstract

On March 18, 2015, two gunmen attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, Tunisia, killing 23 foreign tourists. We assessed PTSD and depression symptoms 4–6 weeks after the event among museum workers, in relation to sociodemographic factors and social support, and we analysed the determinants and predictor factors of PTSD and depression symptoms among the participants. Our findings indicated that 68.6% of the respondents had posttraumatic stress symptoms above the cutoff point (IER-S scores >33), and 40.6% reported severe levels of depressive symptoms (DASS-depression scores >20). Male and female participants did not significantly differ in terms of their symptom severities. Low social support was the best predictor of PTSD and depression symptoms. Our results suggest that interventions designed to reinforce ties within social networks may be particularly helpful for victims in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry “E”, Razi Hospital, Rue des Orangers, 2100, La Manouba, Tunisia

    Feten Fekih-Romdhane, Leila Chennoufi & Mejda Cheour

  2. University of Tunis El Manar, Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia

    Feten Fekih-Romdhane, Leila Chennoufi & Mejda Cheour

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  1. Feten Fekih-Romdhane
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  2. Leila Chennoufi
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  3. Mejda Cheour
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Correspondence to Feten Fekih-Romdhane.

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Fekih-Romdhane, F., Chennoufi, L. & Cheour, M. PTSD and Depression Among Museum Workers After the March 18 Bardo Museum Terrorist Attack. Community Ment Health J 53, 852–858 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0085-z

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