Processing Bias for Terror-Related Stimuli and September 11Th-Related Distress in College Students

The psychological sequelae of the September 11th terrorist attacks were examined in 249 college students at three sites in the USA and one site in the UK in the year following the attacks. Participants completed questionnaires tapping 9/11-related exposure and distress, and completed a modified Stroop task assessing time to color-name cards containing terror-related and neutral words. Geographical location and amount of exposure to the attacks were significant predictors of self-reported 9/11-related distress, but were not associated with processing bias for terror-related stimuli. Self-reported 9/11-related distress was significantly associated with processing bias, but only in the group (n = 124) which performed the neutral card first. Processing biases for terror-related stimuli are dependent on method of assessment and appear to be more closely tied to self-reported distress than to amount of objective exposure to the attacks.