Challenges in Studying the Psychological Effects of Palestinian Children's Exposure to Political Violence and Their Coping with This Traumatic Experience

• NCJ Number: 220030
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 31 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2007 Pages: 691-697
• Author(s): Muhammad M. Haj-Yahia
• Date Published: July 2007
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses the effect on Palestinian adolescents who have been exposed to political violence and traumatic events in the shadow of the Israeli occupation.

Abstract

This article critiques the findings from two studies: the first study revealed that Palestinian adolescents were most likely to develop posttraumatic symptoms (PSTD) if exposed to high levels of political and military traumas, and stressful experiences, and having poor cognitive capacity and high levels of neuroticism in middle childhood. The findings predicted depressive symptoms and low levels of satisfaction with quality of life in adolescence (Qouta et al. 2007). The other study, by Elbedour et al. 2007, indicated that 69 percent of the participants in their study had developed PTSD, 40 percent had moderate or severe levels of depression, 95 percent had severe levels of anxiety, and 70 percent demonstrated undesirable coping responses. The author raises conceptual, methodological, and ethical issues relevant to both studies. The author found that there is a need for extensive research about the relevance of factors to the coping patterns and help-seeking behavior of parents and children: personal factors; familial factors; cultural factors; organizational factors; and professional factors. Clarification and understanding of some of the methodological issues from the two studies would help enhance the quality of the designs, the samples and the sampling approaches, and the operationalization and measurement of exposure to political violence in future studies. The author also suggests that some of the ethical issues should be readdressed especially when conducting studies on the effects of the Palestinian children’s exposure to political violence and how they cope, when it is not always possible to provide the children, their parents and their families with resources to help them cope with the effects of those traumatic experiences. References