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

2009; Wiley; Volume: 22; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/jts.20377

1573-6598

Heidi M. Zinzow, Alyssa A. Rheingold, Alesia O. Hawkins, Benjamin E. Saunders, Dean G. Kilpatrick,

Homelessness and Social Issues

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.