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Koster SM, Koot HM, Malik JA, et al. Associations among traumatic experiences, threat exposure, and mental health in Pakistani journalists. J Trauma Stress. 2022;doi: 10.1002/jts.22772.
Koster, S. M., Koot, H. M., Malik, J. A., & Sijbrandij, M. (2022). Associations among traumatic experiences, threat exposure, and mental health in Pakistani journalists. Journal of traumatic stress, . https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22772
Koster, Suzanna M, et al. "Associations among traumatic experiences, threat exposure, and mental health in Pakistani journalists." Journal of traumatic stress vol. (2022). doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22772
Koster SM, Koot HM, Malik JA, Sijbrandij M. Associations among traumatic experiences, threat exposure, and mental health in Pakistani journalists. J Trauma Stress. 2022 Jan 05; doi: 10.1002/jts.22772. Epub 2022 Jan 05. PMID: 34989035.
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J Trauma Stress. 2022 Jan 05; doi: 10.1002/jts.22772. Epub 2022 Jan 05.

Associations among traumatic experiences, threat exposure, and mental health in Pakistani journalists.

Journal of traumatic stress

Suzanna M Koster, Hans M Koot, Jamil A Malik, Marit Sijbrandij

Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  2. National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

PMID: 34989035 DOI: 10.1002/jts.22772

Abstract

Pakistan is considered to be relatively unsafe for journalists; however, little is known about how working in situations that involve a high risk of trauma exposure and personal threat impacts journalists' mental health. The present study aimed to examine the associations among reporting on topics that carry a high risk of trauma exposure; work-related personal threat exposure; and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of Pakistani journalists. Participants completed online assessments to report the extent of their exposure to trauma and threat in the last 6 months with regard to reporting on militancy, crime, bomb blasts, and natural disasters and exposure to electronic, verbal, and physical threats; stalking; kidnapping; and detention. Further, we assessed symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and stress using self-report instruments. Of the 296 participants, 34.1% showed clinically significant levels of PTSD, moderately elevated levels of depression, and severely elevated levels of anxiety. Linear regression analyses demonstrated an association between PTSD symptoms and a higher frequency of reporting on natural disasters, β = 2.40, p = .004, whereas symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress were associated with a lower frequency of reporting on bomb and suicide blasts, βs = -.93 - 1.61, p = <.001 - .047. Ideally, these findings will raise awareness about their situation, inform prevention and intervention efforts dedicated to journalists' mental health, and promote future research to elucidate the causal factors implicated in mental health symptoms in this population.

© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Traumatic Stress published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

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