Acute stress disorder in victims of robbery and victims of assault

The purpose of this study was to examine acute distress in a group of 65 shop employees, of which 72% had been victims of armed robbery and the others had suffered life-threatening circumstances, physical or psychological assault or captivity, or they had seen people being injured or killed. In all, 25% suffered from acute stress disorder A number of associations were found between background variables (gender, age, marital status, education, and life events) and traumatization, symptomatology, defense style, social support, and coping style. previous work-place training in relation to robbery was not associated with symptoms. Gender, marriage, contact to other victims, optimism, and anxiety explained 60% of the acute stress disorder variance.