Despite the passage of 25 years since the September 11 attacks, the psychological trauma experienced by first responders and rescue workers continues to affect them and their children, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by researchers at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and published in the journal PLOS Mental Health, found that children of respondents who developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) shortly after the attacks were more likely to develop PTSD, depression, anxiety, or panic symptoms themselves.
Yael Sikovic, associate professor of clinical neuroscience and lead author of the study, explained that the children did not see the massive destruction that their parents saw, but the parents conveyed it to them indirectly through their behaviors that expressed fear, anxiety and distrust, without needing to talk about it.
The researchers based their findings on previous studies of Holocaust survivors and Vietnam War veterans, which showed that a parent's traumatic experience can affect their children's mental health even without direct exposure to the event. However, the 9/11 study was different because the event lasted for a long time and affected a group of first responders and rescue workers for many months.
Previous studies have indicated that more than 20% of police officers and more than 30% of aid workers reported behavioral problems in their children after the attacks, but there was no follow-up on the lives of these children who are now adults, prompting researchers to study the tansmission of trauma between generations.
The results were not entirely surprising, as all the children in the study were under 18 on September 11, and had a parent who developed post-traumatic stress disorder shortly after the attacks, representing a particularly vulnerable group.
The researchers found a clear psychological effect on the children, but they were less likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder and more likely to experience depression and anxiety, reflecting the impact of parents' mental health on children.
They also discovered that the duration and type of parental exposure were significant. When parents arrived at the site early after the attack, spent a considerable amount of time there, or were exposed to human remains, their children were more likely to experience mental health problems. These correlations were detectable many years later. The role of parents was also crucial; children of rescue and cleanup workers fared slightly worse than children of police officers. This is because police officers are trained to handle challenges and have their own support community, while rescue and cleanup workers were unprepared to deal with such massive destruction, lacked a similar support community, and worked at the site for many months.
In a related context, researchers from Florida International University revealed that first responders in the September 11 attacks who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder have brains that appear, on average, 3 years older than their actual age, according to a study conducted by the university in 2025. The research team, led by Professor Roberto Lucchini, found that every additional month a responder spent at the rescue site is associated with an additional advance in brain aging of between 4 and 5 months.
The study included MRI scans of more than 5,000 respondents and used an artificial intelligence model to compare brain age to chronological age. It found that those with PTSD had brains that appeared older, while the brains of those without PTSD matched their actual ages.
The researchers also observed a significant increase in rates of early dementia (before age 65) among those who were heavily exposed to toxic dust on site, compared to those who used protective equipment continuously, even after excluding genetic, medical and lifestyle factors.
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