Losing a loved one to homicide: Prevalence and mental health correlates in a national sample of young adults

✍ Scribed by Heidi M. Zinzow; Alyssa A. Rheingold; Alesia O. Hawkins; Benjamin E. Saunders; Dean G. Kilpatrick

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 103 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-9867
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.20377

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The present study examined the prevalence, demographic distribution, and mental health correlates of losing a loved one to homicide. A national sample of 1,753 young adults completed structured telephone interviews measuring violence exposure, mental health diagnoses, and loss of a family member or close friend to a drunk driving accident (vehicular homicide) or murder (criminal homicide). The prevalence of homicide survivorship was 15%. African Americans were more highly represented among criminal homicide survivors. Logistic regression analyses found that homicide survivors were at risk for past year posttraumatic stress disorder (OR = 1.88), major depressive episode (OR = 1.64), and drug abuse/dependence (OR = 1.77). These findings highlight the significant mental health needs of homicide survivors.