11-M Victims 3 Years After Madrid Terrorist Attacks: Looking for Health Beyond Trauma

Although there is a growing body of evidence that health is the presence of well-being and not just the absence of a disease, research related to victims of terrorists attacks is mostly focused on the presence/absence of pathology (e.g. PTSD). The present study aims to apply the Complete State Model of Health to evaluate the mental health status of 69 direct victims of 11-M terrorist attack three years after the event. The results of Horn’s Parallel Analysis and CFA confirmed that the measures of positive mental health (well-being indicators) and illness (PTSD) loaded on separate but correlated factors. This is to say, the absence of PTSD in our sample was not equivalent to the presence of health. However, although positive health and illness indicators should be considered as two different factors, they were closely related. In fact, three well-being indicators were strongly associated with PTSD: positive affect, self-acceptance and positive relations. These findings suggest the need to work to ensure victims’ positive health.