Psychological Effects The first and most immediate effects of terrorism are psychological.

[29] Terrorist campaigns can be expected to psychologically affect a sizeable portion of the population of a targeted society, either directly, by harming a person or their family, or indirectly, through the extensive media coverage of terrorist attacks.[30] The greater the number of attacks and the more lethal those attacks are, the more people that will be psychologically affected by them. Terrorism is a form of psychological warfare against a society.[31] It is designed to strike fear into the heart of the targeted society, and it generally succeeds in doing so. Suicide terrorism can be particularly effective in terrifying people because it projects an aura of fanaticism,[32] which makes the threat of future attacks seem more likely. Peoples fear of terrorism is both rational and irrational; rational in that there is an ever-present threat of a terrorist attack being repeated, but irrational in the probability assigned to that potential event.[33] Since people tend to overestimate their chances of being a victim to terrorism,[34] the fear of terrorism is widespread in a society. It does not, however, affect everyone to an equal degree. Research has shown that there is a negative correlation between a persons education and their fear of being a victim of terrorism. This suggests that the more educated a person is, the less likely they are to succumb to the irrational fear evoked by terrorism.

Gender and terrorism use of social support, problem solving and avoidance, and their effect on stress and depression, Felsten (1998) showed that women used social support slightly more than men, but that there were no differences in the use of problem-solving and avoidance coping styles. Felsten also reported a slight

positive

correlation

between

stress

and

depression

and

stress

and

the

predominance of problem-solving strategies. In a recent meta-analytic review, Tamres et al (2002) examined recent studies of sex differences in coping with stress. Results showed that women make greater use of a variety of coping behaviors compared to men. Furthermore, Ben-Zur and Zeidner (1996) compared the coping patterns of Israeli men and women following Iraqi missile attacks on Israel during the 1991 Gulf War, as well as those used to cope with normal daily hassles. During missile attacks, it was found that women used a greater variety of coping strategies than men. They reportedly employed more active coping and problem-focused strategies, whereas men reported employing more emotionfocused coping during the same crisis. This pattern of gender differences in coping was reversed for coping with daily stressors after the war.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Terrorism takes a significant toll on mental health, and may be expressed in posttraumaticsymptomatology (2), depression (3), pessimism (4), low sense of safety (5), functional problems (6), low resiliency (7) and distress that may require treatment (8). Much of the existing research on the effects of terrorism internationally has focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

symptomatology in those who have been actually present at the attacks.3 However, there is little research on the effect of mass violence or constant fear of terrorism on those who were not present at the site, indirectly affected individuals. Different studies have defined indirect exposures in different ways. Some researchers have defined indirect exposure as viewing television news coverage of terrorist attacks

and discussed the effects of media coverage on mental health.4,5 Additionally, several studies have examined residence in a location distant from the site of a terrorist attack as an index of exposure.6 Previous international research has demonstrated significant positive relationships between proximity of residence to a terrorist attack and increased psychological distress.7-10 Research focusing in Pakistan is markedly deficient. Such effects amongst the college student population have yet to be studied. As this is the population that will become the working professionals of tomorrow, it was imperative that the prevalence of these symptoms and the direct as well as indirect effect on their lifestyle be studied. This will help to determine the prevalence and intensity of terrorism-related stress and how important it is to target this particularly vulnerable population for possible intervention. The significant rise in the number of terror attacks highlights the gravity of terrorism as a continuing threat to adolescents\' sense of safety and wellbeing. Effects over time may include feelings of shock, anxiety, depression, or even emotional indifference. In the prevailing circumstances, these feelings may be more intense and prolonged than usual and alter an individual\'s emotional stability. Our study assessed these symptoms in relation to various types of exposure to terrorism, demographics, and the overall effect it has on their day to day activities and resilience.