The psychological effects of Intifada Al Aqsa: acute stress disorder and distress in Palestinian-Israeli students (original) (raw)
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Zeszyty Pracy Socjalnej
Between the state of Israel independent declaration in 1948, until this very days, wars, military operations and ongoing national terror had been its daily routine to cope with. Th e main goal of this study was to review published studies on the impact of those extreme negative life events on the well-being and mental health of various groups of Arab and Jewish civilians in Israel. In addition, this study emphasizes well-known PTSD risk factors related to terrorism, military operations and war in Israel, as well as dissociative symptoms, ASD symptoms, and Death anxiety. Th e study also deals with some of the background characteristics, the internal and the external resources of the individual, in three age groups, which can take the role of mediator variables between those negative events and the populations' well-being. Th e literature published in Israel from the beginning of studding those subjects, available up to January 2017, was systematically reviewed. About thirteen studies on the impact of ongoing terror attacks and risk factors for distress, trauma and PTSD and, about ten studies on coping strategies were identifi ed. Causes, risk factors, variety of outcomes and coping strategies were widespread from the earlier and traditional to more recent and modern approaches towards those subjects and sometimes integrated.
Child abuse & neglect
This study investigates the relationship between exposure to armed conflict and terror events, and an array of mental and behavioral outcomes within a large cross-cultural scientifically representative sample of 24,935 Palestinian (7,430 West Bank and 7,217 Gaza) and Israeli (5,255 Jewish and 6,033 Arab) 11-, 13-, and 15-year-old school children. The children of the Middle East have been subjected to exposure from armed conflict and terrorism repeatedly with no adequate research or interventions aimed at shielding them from the hazards of such exposure to their mental and social well-being. This paper studies the relationship between a newly developed scale (STACE) measuring levels of subjective perceptions of threat/fear due to exposure to armed conflict events and its predicting association with six psychosocial and behavioral outcomes covering (1) poor mental health, (2) positive well-being, and (3) risk behaviors. It also examines the role of parental support in "buffering&...
The psychological toll of the Intifada: symptoms of distress and coping in Israeli soldiers
The Israel Medical Association journal : IMAJ, 2008
Detrimental effects of military service among the civilian Palestinian population have been reported in soldiers. To examine the frequency and type of stressors encountered by soldiers in close contact with the CPP and its relationship with post-traumatic symptomatology. We also investigated coping methods and the preferred types of professional help. Using random digit dialing methodology we conducted a phone survey of veteran soldiers, men (n=167) and women (n=59) in close contact with the CPP; the comparison group comprised male veteran soldiers with no CPP exposure (n=74). We used focus groups to develop context-related measures to assess exposure to violent incidents, coping modes and preferred modes of professional assistance. We included measures of traumatic exposure, post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder. Soldiers who served among the CPP had greater exposure to traumatic events and to civilian-related violent incidents (more than half as victims...
Coping and Mental Health Outcomes Among Israelis Living With the Chronic Threat of Terrorism
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2012
Relatively little is known about how people cope with the chronic threat of terrorism or how coping behaviors relate to mental health outcomes within this context. Through the use of exploratory factor analysis, we identified seven latent coping factors among Israeli citizens living near the Gaza border, a region that has been regularly subjected to rocket and mortar attacks. Moderation analysis revealed that three coping factors (substance use coping, denial/disengagement, and social support seeking) exacerbated the relationship between terror-related exposure and psychological functioning, and that one factor (acceptance/positive reframing) protected against psychological distress. These findings help elucidate the types of coping strategies employed by individuals living with the chronic threat of terror and their impact on mental health. In addition, they underscore the need for researchers and clinicians to consider coping behaviors differently when they occur in an environment of chronic terrorist threat.
This study assessed the effects of the ongoing violence on the mental health of Palestinian and Israeli youths. Parallel instruments were developed and adapted, as part of a collaborative project, in order to assess, in each society: (1) differential rates of exposure to the conflict, (2) the association between exposure and the severity of posttraumatic symptoms (PTS), and (3) the inter-relationships among PTS, functional impairment, somatic complaints, and coping strategies. Participants were 1,016 Israeli and 1,235 Palestinian adolescents. A self-report questionnaire assessed exposure. PTS was measured using the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index, functional impairment and somatic complaints were measured with the DISC, and coping strategies were assessed with Brief Cope. In both societies, greater exposure to conflict-related violence was associated with more PTS and more somatic complaints, with girls reporting more distress than boys. A total of 6.8 per cent of the Israeli students and 37.2 per cent of the Palestinian students met criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In both societies, but more pronounced in the Palestinian
Stress, Trauma, Psychological Problems, Quality of Life, and Resilience of Palestinian00000000000
Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between stressor due to restriction of Palestinian movement, traumatic events due to war on Gaza and psychological symptoms, quality of life, and resilience. Methods: A sample consisted of 502 randomly selected subjects from five areas of the Gaza Strip. Measures for collecting data include Stressful Situations due to Siege Scale, Gaza Traumatic Events Checklist, Brief Symptom Checklist-BSI-19, World Health Organization Quality of Life, and Resilience scale. Results: The most common stressful situations due siege were: feelings of being living in a big prison cannot finish some construction and repair work in their house due to shortage of cement and building materials, prices were sharply increased in the last few years. Participants commonly reported traumatic events such as hearing shelling of the area by artillery, hearing the sonic sounds of the jetfighters, hearing the loud voice of drones, and watching mutilated bodies in TV. Males had significantly experienced severe traumatic events than females. People live in cities reported more traumatic events than those live in a village or a camp. As a reaction to stress and trauma Palestinians participants reported anxiety symptoms such as nervousness or shakiness inside, feeling tense or keyed up; while depression symptoms reported were feeling sad, and weak in parts of their body. However, feelings of worthlessness and thoughts of ending life were seldom. Females reported less stress and trauma, but they showed anxiety and somatization symptoms than males. Only 12.5% said that they evaluate their life as good, and 27.1% said they enjoy their life. Better quality of life is an indicator of wellbeing; females had higher level of quality of life. While, physical health activities of daily living were more in males was. Palestinians used religious ways of coping with the stress and trauma, and 98% said God is helping all the time, they were proud of their achievements, and had strong sense of purpose in their life. There were statistically significant positive relationship between stress due to the siege and closure and traumatic events, psychological symptoms, depression, somatization, and anxiety. However, there was statistically significant negative relationship between total score of stress due to the siege and closure and the total resilience factor and subscales, and quality of life. Total traumatic events were positively correlated with psychological symptoms, depression, somatization, and anxiety. Conclusion and implications: In this study, siege and blockade situation was very stressful. Such stressors due to siege had negative influence families especially older age fathers who live in refugee camp and unemployed and living in poor families. Such findings are trigger to start national and international advocacy campaigns to left the siege on Gaza Strip and allow free movements and association, which may decrease stressors and consequences and improve the economic situation of the families and decrease poverty of the families. Traumatic experiences due to eight days war on Gaza impact on mental health and quality of life highlight the need for developing new training program including subjects such trauma, impact of trauma, stress management, symptoms related to trauma such as PTSD, anxiety, depression and ways of dealing such symptoms especially for fathers who live in the cities. Keywords: Gaza strip, Psychological problems, Quality of life, Resilience, Siege, Stress, Trauma