Individual and collective exposure to political violence: Palestinian adolescents coping with conflict

Rita Giacaman · Harry S. Shannon · Hana Saab · Neil Arya · Will Boyce

155 citations0/0 files storedEuropean Journal of Public Health

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research Child Abuse and Trauma Health and Conflict Studies

Abstract

BACKGROUND: We conducted a survey of Palestinian adolescents in school. We hypothesized that collective and individual exposures to violence would both negatively affect adolescents' mental health. We also anticipated that the negative effect of collective exposures on mental health would be less than that of individual exposures. Our analysis was designed to test these hypotheses. METHODS: A representative sample of 3415 students of 10th and 11th grades from the Ramallah District of the West Bank participated in the survey. The primary independent variables were scales of individual and collective exposures to trauma/violence (ETV) by the Israeli military and settlers. Factor analysis revealed several sub-scales. Outcome measures were constructed and included: a binary measure of depressive-like states, and emotional, depressive-like state, and somatic scales. Several variables were identified as possible covariates: gender, age, school-type, residence, employment status of father, and identity documents held. RESULTS: Logistic and multiple regression analyses revealed a strong relationship between ETV and adolescents' mental health, with both individual and collective exposures having independent effects. There was a higher prevalence of depressive-like symptoms among girls compared with boys, and in adolescents living in Palestinian refugee camps compared with those living in cities, towns and villages. CONCLUSION: The findings confirmed our hypothesis that both individual and collective ETV independently affect the mental health of adolescents. Contrary to expectations, individual exposures did not consistently have a greater negative effect on health outcomes than collective exposures, although the sub-scale of direct personal exposures to violence consistently showed the strongest effect among sub-scales. The results emphasize the importance of going beyond individual experiences and including the health outcomes of collective violation when analyzing violent and traumatic contexts.

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References

2001The invention of post-traumatic stress disorder and the social usefulness of a psychiatric category 2001Postpsychiatry: a new direction for mental health 2000Post traumatic stress disorder reactions in children of war: a longitudinal study 2002Emotional problems in Palestinian children living in a war zone: a cross-sectional study 2005Post-traumatic stress disorder among school age Palestinian children 2001Post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents

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2013Randomized Control Trial of a CBT Trauma Recovery Program in Palestinian Schools 2019Learning The Hard Way: The Effect of Violent Conflict on Student Academic Achievement 2010Longitudinal Pathways Between Political Violence and Child Adjustment: The Role of Emotional Security about the Community in Northern Ireland 2008Posttraumatic Symptoms, Functional Impairment, and Coping among Adolescents on Both Sides of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict: A Cross‐Cultural Approach 2012Reciprocal relationships between resource loss and psychological distress following exposure to political violence: an empirical investigation of COR theory's loss spirals 2013Individual and Collective Dimensions of Resilience Within Political Violence

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