Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar 8;24(1):277.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-10592-1.

Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack

Ida Frugård Strøm  1 , Tore Wentzel-Larsen  2   3 , Synne Stensland  2   4 , Grete Dyb  2   5 , Lise Eilin Stene  2
Affiliations

Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack

Ida Frugård Strøm et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: There is scarce knowledge on the health care follow-up of parents of terror attack survivors. This study focused on the mothers and fathers of survivors and examined (1) their perceived health care needs relative to their psychological reactions, physical health problems (unmet health care needs), and adaptation to work; (2) whether sociodemographic characteristics, health problems and social support were associated with unmet health care needs; and (3) how unmet health care needs, sociodemographic characteristics, and experiences with health services associated with overall dissatisfaction during the health care follow-up.

Methods: Interview and questionnaire data from three waves of the Utøya parent study were analyzed (n = 364). Chi-square tests and t- tests were used to compare unmet physical and psychological health care needs, sociodemographic factors and post-terror attack health reported by mothers and fathers. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine whether sociodemographic characteristics, unmet health care needs, and health care experiences were associated with overall dissatisfaction among mothers and fathers of the survivors during the health care follow-up.

Results: Among the mothers, 43% reported unmet health care needs for psychological reactions, while 25% reported unmet health care needs for physical problems. Among the fathers, 36% reported unmet health care needs for psychological reactions, and 15% reported unmet health care needs for physical problems. Approximately 1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers reported "very high/high" needs for adaptation to work. Poorer self-perceived health, higher levels of posttraumatic stress and anxiety/depression symptoms, and lower levels of social support were significantly associated with reported unmet psychological and physical health care needs in both mothers and fathers. Parents with unmet health care needs reported significantly lower satisfaction with the help services received compared to parents whose health care needs were met. Low accessibility of help services and not having enough time to talk and interact with health care practitioners were associated with overall dissatisfaction with the help received.

Conclusions: Our findings highlight that parents of terror-exposed adolescents are at risk of having unmet psychological and physical health care needs and thus need to be included in proactive outreach and health care follow-up programs in the aftermath of a terror attack.

Keywords: Depression and anxiety; Parents of survivors; Physical health problems; Post-terror health care needs; Posttraumatic stress; Psychological reactions; Social support; Terror; Unmet health care needs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mothers’ experiences and satisfaction with the post-terror attack help services received (n = 223)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Fathers’ experiences and satisfaction with the post-terror attack help services received (n = 141)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Shalev AY. Acute stress reactions in adults. Biol Psychiatry. 2002;51(7):532–43. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3223(02)01335-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. DiMaggio C, Galea S. The behavioral consequences of terrorism: a meta-analysis. Acad Emerg Medicine: Official J Soc Acad Emerg Med. 2006;13(5):559–66. - PubMed
    1. Neria Y, DiGrande L, Adams BG. Posttraumatic stress disorder following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks: a review of the literature among highly exposed populations. Am Psychol. 2011;66(6):429–46. doi: 10.1037/a0024791. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stensland S, Zwart JA, Wentzel-Larsen T, Dyb G. The headache of terror: a matched cohort study of adolescents from the Utøya and the HUNT study. Neurology. 2018;90(2):e111–8. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004805. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pfefferbaum B, Pfefferbaum RL, Gurwitch RH, Nagumalli S, Brandt EN, Robertson MJ, et al. Children’s response to terrorism: a critical review of the literature. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2003;5(2):95–100. doi: 10.1007/s11920-003-0025-1. - DOI - PubMed