Identifying pathways to sympathies for violent protest and terrorism

Objective: To test the impact of depressive symptoms, adverse life events (LEs) and political engagement on sympathies for violent protest and terrorism (SVPT). Method: A cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of Pakistani and Bangladeshi men and women from two English cities. Weighted, multivariable, logistic regression yielded population estimates of association (odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals) against a binary outcome of SVPT derived from a three-group solution following cluster analysis. Results: Depressive symptoms showed a higher risk of SVPT (OR=2.59, 95% CI=1.59-4.23, p<0.001), but mediated little of the overall effects of LEs and political engagement, which were associated with a lower risk of SVPT: death of a close friend: OR=0.24, 95% CI=0.07-0.74; donating money to a charity: OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.3-0.9). . Conclusions: Independent of risks of SVPT related to depressive symptoms, some expressions of social connectedness are associated with a lower risk of SVPT.