Children's reactions to a war situation as a function of age and sex

The goal of the study was to assess children's reactions to the stress induced by the 1991 Gulf War as a function of gender and age. It was conducted during the third week of the 1991 Gulf War in Israel. The participants were 229 boys and 189 girls who attended the 2nd, 6th, and 10th grades. They were asked to report behavior problems (for before and during the war), anxiety level (before and during the war), and war-related symptomatic behavior. The findings indicate that the war had an adverse effect on the well being of children, in particular girls. Girls in comparison to boys reported higher levels of anxiety and more behavior problems for the war period as well as more war related symptoms. Gender differences were mostly found for the data relating to the war period and not for the pre-war period. Age moderated the effect of gender on war related symptoms and on anxiety. Whereas among the younger children (2nd grade) no gender effects were found, among the older ones (6th and 10th grades) the gender effects were apparent. In sum (a) the Gulf war had an adverse effect on the well being of children, in particular on the well being of girls. (b) The gender effects appeared only among the older children.