Topic: Disasters, terror and stress management

Health, well-being and working environment after the 22nd of July: A study of Government Quarter and Ministry employees.

The Directorate of Health assigned NKVTS the task of researching how the Government Quarter employees have been affected by the bomb attack on the 22nd of July 2011.

2010 This project is ongoing 2026

Project Manager

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Project Members

This research will document employees health, working environment and perceived safety and risk at the workplace after the bomb explosion on the 22nd of July 2011. This project aims to find answers on how a terror attack influences employees health, status of health over time, and how different factors of management and work environment are either beneficial or detrimental on employees health, functioning and life quality. Another objective is to obtain the employees perception of their place of work as secure and safe before the attack, how this perception has been influenced by information, drills or concrete safety procedures, and to what degree does feeling unsafe have on health.

All employees in the Government Quarter and the Ministries will be invited to participate.

The study will use a web-based questionnaire.

The investigation will have a longitudinal design, with at least two points of measurement.
The first collection of data will take place in February/March 2012.
The last one is planned for the summer of 2014.

Publications

Birkeland, M. S., & Heir, T. (2017). Making connections: exploring the centrality of posttraumatic stress symptoms and covariates after a terrorist attack. European Journal of Psychotraumatology. doi:10.1080/20008198.2017.1333387

Birkeland, M. S., Blix, I., Solberg, Ø., & Heir, T. (2017). Does optimism act as a buffer against posttraumatic stress over time? A longitudinal study of the protective role of optimism after the 2011 Oslo bombing.. Psychological Trauma, 9(2), 207-213. doi:10.1037/tra0000188

Birkeland, M. S., Blix, I., Solberg, Ø., & Heir, T. (2017). Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms after a Terrorist Attack: A Network Approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02091

Birkeland, M. S., Hansen, M., Blix, I., Solberg, Ø., & Heir, T. (2017). For Whom Does Time Heal Wounds? Individual Differences in Stability and Change in Posttraumatic Stress after the 2011 Oslo Bombing. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 30(1), 19-26. doi:10.1002/jts.22158

Birkeland, M. S., Nielsen, M. B., Hansen, M., Knardahl, S., & Heir, T. (2017). Like a bridge over troubled water? A longitudinal study of general social support, colleague support, and leader support as recovery factors after a traumatic event. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 8(1). doi:10.1080/20008198.2017.1302692

Birkeland, M. S., Nielsen, M. B., Hansen, M., Knardahl, S., & Heir, T. (2017). The impact of a workplace terrorist attack on employees’ perceptions of leadership: A longitudinal study from pre- to postdisaster. Leadership Quarterly, 28(5), 659-671. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.01.002

Hansen, M., Birkeland, M. S., Nissen, A., Blix, I., Solberg, Ø., & Heir, T. (2017). Prevalence and course of symptom-defined PTSD in individuals directly or indirectly exposed to terror: A longitudinal study. Psychiatry, 80(2), 171-183. doi:10.1080/00332747.2016.1230983

Nielsen, M. B., Birkeland, M. S., Hansen, M., Knardahl, S., & Heir, T. (2017). Victimization from workplace bullying after a traumatic event: time-lagged relationships with symptoms of posttraumatic stress. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 90(5), 411-421. doi:10.1007/s00420-017-1204-4

Birkeland, M. S., Knatten, C. K., Hansen, M., Hem, C., & Heir, T. (2016). Long-term relationships between perceived social support and posttraumatic stress after the 2011 Oslo bombing: A three-year longitudinal study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 202, 230-235. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.05.037

Blix, I., Birkeland, M. S., Hansen, M., & Heir, T. (2016). Posttraumatic Growth—An Antecedent and Outcome of Posttraumatic Stress: Cross-Lagged Associations Among Individuals Exposed to Terrorism. Clinical Psychological Science, 4(4), 620-628. doi:10.1177/2167702615615866

Blix, I., Birkeland, M. S., Solberg, Ø., Hansen, M., & Heir, T. (2016). The Launching and Ensnaring Effects of Construing a Traumatic Event as Central to One’s Identity and Life Story. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30(4), 526-531. doi:10.1002/acp.3224

Blix, I., Kanten, A. B., Birkeland, M. S., Solberg, Ø., Nissen, A., & Heir, T. (2016). Thinking About What Might Have Happened: Counterfactual Thinking and Post-traumatic Stress in Individuals Directly and Indirectly Exposed to the 2011 Oslo Bombing. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30(6), 983-991. doi:10.1002/acp.3289

Heir, T., Blix, I., & Knatten, C. K. (2016). Thinking that one’s life was in danger: perceived life threat in individuals directly or indirectly exposed to terror. British Journal of Psychiatry, 209(4), 306-310. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.115.170167

Hem, C., Nielsen, M. B., Hansen, M., & Heir, T. (2016). Effort-reward imbalance and post-traumatic stress after a workplace terror attack. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 10(2), 219-224. doi:10.1017/dmp.2015.158

Birkeland, M. S., Hafstad, G. S., Blix, I., & Heir, T. (2015). Latent classes of posttraumatic stress and growth. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 28(3), 272-286. doi:10.1080/10615806.2014.956097

Birkeland, M. S., Nielsen, M. B., Knardahl, S., & Heir, T. (2015). Associations between work environment and psychological distress after a workplace terror attack: The importance of role expectations, predictability and leader support. PLOS ONE, 10(3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0119492

Birkeland, M. S., Nielsen, M. B., Knardahl, S., & Heir, T. (2015). Time-lagged relationships between leadership behaviors and psychological distress after a workplace terrorist attack. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 89(4), 689-697. doi:10.1007/s00420-015-1106-2

Blix, I., Birkeland, M. S., Hansen, M., & Heir, T. (2015). Posttraumatic Growth and Centrality of Event: A Longitudinal Study in the Aftermath of the 2011 Oslo Bombing. Psychological Trauma, 7(1), 18-23. doi:10.1037/tra0000006

Nissen, A., Nielsen, M. B., Solberg, Ø., Hansen, M., & Heir, T. (2015). Perception of threat and safety at work among employees in the Norwegian ministries after the 2011 Oslo bombing. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 28(6), 650-662. doi:10.1080/10615806.2015.1009831

Solberg, Ø., Blix, I., & Heir, T. (2015). The aftermath of terrorism: posttraumatic stress and functional impairment after the 2011 Oslo bombing. Frontiers in Psychology. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01156

Blix, I., Solberg, Ø., & Heir, T. (2014). Centrality of event and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder after the 2011 Oslo bombing attack. Applied Cognitive Psychology. doi:10.1002/acp.2988

Blix, I., Hansen, M., Birkeland, M. S., Nissen, A., & Heir, T. (2013). Posttraumatic growth, posttraumatic stress and psychological adjustment in the aftermath of the 2011 Oslo bombing attack. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 11:160. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-11-160

Hansen, M., Nissen, A., & Heir, T. (2013). Proximity to terror and post-traumatic stress: a follow-up survey of governmental employees after the 2011 Oslo bombing attack. BMJ Open, 3(7). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002692