LAUSR

This study’s longitudinal findings suggest that after a terrorist incident, directly-exposed survivors remember their early postdisaster experience and continue to have psychosocial needs. Because their lives have been substantially altered by the bombing (with psychosocial sequelae not necessarily representing long-term psychopathology), disaster-related interventions continue to be warranted. Objective The aim of the study is to examine the long-term course of disaster-related experience among survivors of a terrorist bombing and the long-term recollection of initial workplace effects across nearly a quarter century. Methods From an initial randomly selected sample of highly trauma-exposed survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, 103 participated in qualitative open-ended interviews about their bombing experience approximately 23 years after disaster. Results The survivors described their bombing experience clearly with extensive detail and expression of persistent strong emotion. Their discussions reflected findings from earlier assessments and also continued over the course of the next decades to complete their stories of the course of their occupational and interpersonal postdisaster journeys. Conclusions Long-term psychosocial ramifications in these survivors’ lives continue to warrant psychosocial interventions, such as occupational and interpersonal counseling.