Resiliency factors predicting psychological adjustment after political violence among Palestinian children

• Published in: International journal of behavioral development Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 256 - 267
• Main Authors: Punamäki, Raija-Leena, Qouta, Samir, El-Sarraj, Eyad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications 01.05.2001; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Anpassung; Anxiety disorders; Belastung; Biological and medical sciences; Child clinical studies; Eltern; Empirische Untersuchung; Erziehungsstil; Gewalt; Intifada; Kind; Kind-Eltern-Beziehung; Krieg; Leistung; Medical sciences; Neurose; Palestine; Palästina; Parental support; Perceptions; Persönlichkeitsentwicklung; Persönlichkeitsstörung; Political violence; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Psychische Entwicklung; Psychological adjustment; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Resilience; Schüler; Schülerleistung; Young people; Human; Neuroticism; Policy; Parental behavior; Posttraumatic syndrome; Violence; Anxiety disorder; Cognition; Personality; Emotional disorder; Stress; Parent child relation; School age; Follow up study; Adolescent; Predictive factor; Child
• ISSN: 0165-0254; 1464-0651
• DOI: 10.1080/01650250042000294

The effects of cognitive capacity, perceived parenting, traumatic events, and activity, which were first measured in the midst of political violence of the Intifada in 1993, were examined on post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), emotional disorders, school performance, and neuroticism three years later in more peaceful conditions among 86 Palestinian children of 14 ... years of age. The results showed, first, that PTSD was high among the children who had been exposed to a high level of traumatic events and had responded passively (not actively) to Intifada violence. Discrepant perceived parenting was also decisive for adjustment: Children who perceived their mothers as highly loving and caring but their fathers as not so showed a high level of PTSD. High intellectual but low creative performance was also characteristic of the children suffering from emotional disorders. Second, the hypothesis that cognitive capacity and activity serve a resiliency function if children feel loved and nonrejected at home was confirmed. Third, neuroticism decreased significantly over the three years, especially among the children who had been exposed to a high numbver of traumatic events. (DIPF/orig.).