Predictors of acute stress disorder in response to bank robbery

BACKGROUND: Research has shown that robberies in the workplace, in particular those in the bank sector are traumatising events for many employees. However, research in the acute sequelae of bank robberies is limited. OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: The present study explores the prevalence and predictors of acute stress disorder (ASD) in a questionnaire survey of bank employees following a bank robbery. RESULTS: Results show that 14.5% (n=22) of participants (N=152) suffered from probable ASD, which is similar to the ASD prevalence found in other interpersonal assault studies. In addition, a number of associations were found between ASD severity, gender, age, social support, previous trauma, and trauma severity. In the final hierarchical multiple regression model, which included 12 variables, 66% of the variance in ASD symptom level was accounted for by two peri-trauma variables (perceived helplessness and perceived life threat) and one post-trauma variable (perceived safety after the robbery). CONCLUSIONS: The present study yielded some promising results with regards to the influential role of peri-traumatic and post-traumatic variables in predicting ASD after a bank robbery—in particular perceived safety. Although there may be different paths to developing ASD and PTSD, a common core feature may be perceived safety. Furthermore, the results also supported the inclusion of perceived helplessness in the A2 criterion of the DSM-IV ASD diagnosis.