Effects of prior trauma and age on posttraumatic stress symptoms in Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants after terrorism in the community

Forty-five adult Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants living in Oklahoma City at the time of the 1995 bombing were surveyed 114 to 2 years later as part of a disaster mental health outreach program. Demographic variables, physical and interpersonal exposure, initial physiologic and emotional responses to the bombing, and posttraumatic stress symptoms associated with this disaster and with earlier trauma were measured. Most participants had experienced prior trauma in their homeland. PTSD symptomatology from prior trauma was most predictive of initial physiologic and emotional response and of later bomb-related PTSD symptoms. Bomb-related PTSD symptoms increased with current age and were inversely related to age at the time of prior trauma. Results underscore the importance of providing long-term disaster assistance to immigrants with prior trauma.