Trauma, resilience and future preparedness

The inquests into the deaths of the 52 people killed in the July 2005 attacks on London's public transport system opened today.



I have been thinking about the applied research work that has been done to document and address the psychosocial impacts, and help with future emergency preparedness. I am particularly interested in (and inspired by) the resilience displayed by individuals, groups and organisations affected.


Work on the psychosocial impact


Bux, S. M., & Coyne, S. M. (2009). The effects of terrorism: The aftermath of the London terror attacks. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(12), 2936-2966. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00556.x


Handley, R. V., Salkovskis, P. M., Scragg, P., & Ehlers, A. (2009). Clinically significant avoidance of public transport following the London bombings: Travel phobia or subthreshold posttraumatic stress disorder? Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23(8), 1170-1176. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.07.023

Misra, M., Greenberg, N., Hutchinson, C., Brain, A., & Glozier, N. (2009). Psychological impact upon London Ambulance Service of the 2005 bombings. Occupational Medicine, 59(6), 428-433. doi:10.1093/occmed/kqp100


Rubin, G. J., Brewin, C. R., Greenberg, N., Hughes, J. H., Simpson, J., & Wessely, S. (2007). Enduring consequences of terrorism: 7-month follow-up survey of reactions to the bombings in London on 7 July 2005. British Journal of Psychiatry, 190(APR.), 350-356. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.106.029785


Rubin, G. J., Brewin, C. R., Greenberg, N., Simpson, J., & Wessely, S. (2005). Psychological and behavioural reactions to the bombings in London on 7 July 2005: Cross sectional survey of a representative sample of londoners. British Medical Journal, 331(7517), 606-611. doi:10.1136/bmj.38583.728484.3A


Whalley, M. G., Farmer, E., & Brewin, C. R. (2007). Pain flashbacks following the July 7th 2005 London bombings. Pain, 132(3), 332-336. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2007.08.011




Work on future preparedness


Bland, S. A., Lockey, D. J., Davies, G. E., & Kehoe, A. D. (2006). Military perspective on the civilian response to the London bombings July 2005. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps., 152(1), 13-16.


Hughes, G. (2006). The London bombings of 7 July 2005: What is the main lesson? Emergency Medicine Journal, 23(9), 666. doi:10.1136/emj.2006.039586


Jacobs, L. M., & Burns, K. J. (2006). Terrorism preparedness: Web-based resource management and the TOPOFF 3 exercise. Journal of Trauma - Injury, Infection and Critical Care, 60(3), 566-571. doi:10.1097/01.ta.0000197379.40878.c7

Langdon, P., & Hosking, I. (2010). Inclusive wireless technology for emergency communications in the UK. International Journal of Emergency Management, 7(1), 47-58. doi:10.1504/IJEM.2010.032044


Lockey, D. J., MacKenzie, R., Redhead, J., Wise, D., Harris, T., Weaver, A., Hines, K., & Davies, G. E. (2005). London bombings July 2005: The immediate pre-hospital medical response. Resuscitation, 66(2) doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2005.07.005


Page, L., Rubin, J., Amlôt, R., Simpson, J., & Wessely, S. (2008). Are Londoners prepared for an emergency? A longitudinal study following the London bombings. Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, 6(4), 309-319. doi:10.1089/bsp.2008.0043


Shirley, P. J. (2006). Critical care delivery: The experience of a civilian terrorist attack. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps., 152(1), 17-21.


Shirley, P. J., & Mandersloot, G. (2008). Clinical review: The role of the intensive care physician in mass casualty incidents: Planning, organisation, and leadership. Critical Care, 12(3) doi:10.1186/cc6876


Wilson, J., Murray, V., & Kettle, J. N. (2009). The July 2005 London bombings: Environmental monitoring, health risk assessment and lessons identified for major incident response. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 66(10), 642-643. doi:10.1136/oem.2008.039933

Picture credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/7-7_Memorial.JPG

Review and planning day

Like most academic staff in the Psych Department, I was at the review and planning day today.  This is our 'getting ready to launch' meeting in preparation for the start of the autumn term.

Although a lot of the discussion revolved around arrangements for taught students - how to welcome freshers, develop our students' employability, ensure the quality of the course, etc. - we also discussed our plans for applied research and the various targets that we've been set for bringing in external income. 

As usual, it all seems rather daunting...  But on the other hand, we are really starting to build up a head of steam as regards psychology applied research.  Here are just a few of the publications authored by staff in 2010 - and the year isn't over yet!
 

Bowen, E. (2010). Therapeutic environment and outcomes in a U.K. domestic violence perpetrator program. Small Group Research, 41(2), 198-220. doi:10.1177/1046496409357081

Bowen, E., & Dixon, L. (2010). Concurrent and prospective associations between facial affect recognition accuracy and childhood antisocial behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 36(5), 305-314. doi:10.1002/ab.20357

Farrington-Flint, L., Canobi, K. H., Wood, C., & Faulkner, D. (2010). Children's patterns of reasoning about reading and addition concepts. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28(2), 427-448. doi:10.1348/026151009X424222

Goodman, S., & Burke, S. (2010). 'Oh you don't want asylum seekers, oh you're just racist': A discursive analysis of discussions about whether it's racist to oppose asylum seeking. Discourse and Society, 21(3), 325-340. doi:10.1177/0957926509360743

Grubb, A. (2010). Modern day hostage (crisis) negotiation: The evolution of an art form within the policing arena. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15(5), 341-348. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2010.06.002

Holliman, A. J., Wood, C., & Sheehy, K. (2010). Does speech rhythm sensitivity predict children's reading ability 1 year later? Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 356-366. doi:10.1037/a0018049

Holliman, A. J., Wood, C., & Sheehy, K. (2010). The contribution of sensitivity to speech rhythm and non-speech rhythm to early reading development. Educational Psychology, 30(3), 247-267. doi:10.1080/01443410903560922

Sage, L., & Kavussanu, M.(2010). Moral identity and social goals predict eudaimonia in football. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.05.008

Taylor, L. M., Hume, I. R., & Welsh, N. (2010). Labelling and self-esteem: The impact of using specific vs. generic labels. Educational Psychology, 30(2), 191-202. doi:10.1080/01443410903494478

Wood, C., Pillinger, C., & Jackson, E. (2010). Understanding the nature and impact of young readers' literacy interactions with talking books and during adult reading support. Computers and Education, 54(1), 190-198. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.08.003