Citation

Slone M, Shoshani A. J. Trauma. Stress 2014; 27(3): 353-360.

Affiliation

School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.21918

PMID

24948538

Abstract

This cross-sectional study investigated relations between conflict exposure and psychiatric symptoms among 8,727 Jewish Israeli adolescents aged 12-17 years from 1998-2011. This 14-year span included periods of terrorism, missile attacks, wars, relocations, military operations, and relative quiet, reflecting a dynamically changing, primarily violent climate. Annual samples from the same cities, geographical regions, and schools throughout the country were assessed for personal political life events (PLE) exposure and for psychiatric symptoms using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis & Spencer, ). Data were divided into 8 exposure periods: (a) pre-Intifada 1998-2000, (b) Intifada peak 2001-2003, (c) Intifada recession 2004, (d) evacuation 2005, (e) missiles and the 2006 Lebanon war, (f) peak missiles 2006-2007, (g) Operation Cast Lead 2008-2009, and (h) global terrorism 2010-2011.

RESULTS confirmed a relation between type of exposure period, PLE exposure, and psychiatric symptoms. In addition, PLE exposure was positively correlated with psychiatric symptoms (β =.49). A moderating effect of gender on the relationship between PLE exposure and the psychiatric index was found, with elevated symptoms among females (β =.30).

Language: en