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The tragic events of September 11, 2001, created a natural laboratory for studying the prevalence and course of, and the contributors to, subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in an unselected population. This cross-sectional study, conducted 2 to 3 years after the attack, used computer-assisted telephone (94.5%) or personal (5.5%) interviews with 3271 English-speaking escapees from the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (approximately 21% of the estimated tower survivors; 59% men; 92% aged 25–64; 68% white; 66% with college or postgraduate degrees; 60% earning ≥$75,000 annually).
Almost all survivors (96%) had some PTSD symptoms, most commonly hypervigilance and being easily startled; 15% screened positive for PTSD. Risks for …