TY - JOUR
T1 - Israeli youth in the second intifada
T2 - PTSD and future orientation
AU - Solomon, Zahava
AU - Lavi, Tamar
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Adler Research Center for Child Welfare and Protection at Tel Aviv University.
PY - 2005/11
Y1 - 2005/11
N2 - Objective: To examine the relationship between exposure to political violence and posttraumatic symptoms, future orientation, and attitudes toward peace. Method: A total of 740 boys and girls aged 11.5-15 years from Jerusalem, Gilo, and the Jewish settlements in the disputed territories were assessed in the summer of 2001 using an exposure to terror questionnaire, Child Posttraumatic Stress Reaction Index, Children's Future Orientation Scale, and a question regarding the future of peace talks. Results: A substantially higher percentage of youths in the settlements (27.6%) than in Jerusalem (12.4%) or Gilo (11.2%) reported moderate to very severe levels of posttraumatic symptoms. Children's Future Orientation responses were moderately optimistic. About two thirds of the adolescents in the settlements rejected the idea of peace talks at any time, whereas around half of the youths in Jerusalem and Gilo supported the continuation of peace talks. Exposure was related to both PTSD symptoms and attitudes toward peace but not to future orientation. Conclusions: Our findings present the complex interrelationship of political violence, posttraumatic stress disorder, and attitudes toward peace and raise the need for a combined mental health and peace education intervention to prevent the often overlooked vicious cycle of violence and traumalization.
AB - Objective: To examine the relationship between exposure to political violence and posttraumatic symptoms, future orientation, and attitudes toward peace. Method: A total of 740 boys and girls aged 11.5-15 years from Jerusalem, Gilo, and the Jewish settlements in the disputed territories were assessed in the summer of 2001 using an exposure to terror questionnaire, Child Posttraumatic Stress Reaction Index, Children's Future Orientation Scale, and a question regarding the future of peace talks. Results: A substantially higher percentage of youths in the settlements (27.6%) than in Jerusalem (12.4%) or Gilo (11.2%) reported moderate to very severe levels of posttraumatic symptoms. Children's Future Orientation responses were moderately optimistic. About two thirds of the adolescents in the settlements rejected the idea of peace talks at any time, whereas around half of the youths in Jerusalem and Gilo supported the continuation of peace talks. Exposure was related to both PTSD symptoms and attitudes toward peace but not to future orientation. Conclusions: Our findings present the complex interrelationship of political violence, posttraumatic stress disorder, and attitudes toward peace and raise the need for a combined mental health and peace education intervention to prevent the often overlooked vicious cycle of violence and traumalization.
KW - Posttraumatic stress disorder
KW - Terror
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=27144505491&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/01.chi.0000161650.97643.e1
DO - 10.1097/01.chi.0000161650.97643.e1
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AN - SCOPUS:27144505491
SN - 0890-8567
VL - 44
SP - 1167
EP - 1175
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
IS - 11
ER -