The present mixed-method exploratory study aims at exploring how families' perceptions of education are influenced by the availability of resources promoting well-being and the ability to cope with political and military violence. A convenience sample of 120 households selected in the Gaza Strip was administered using two self-reported instruments: WHOQOL-BREF (WHO Quality of Life-BREF) adapted to the Palestinian context, and items adapted from the Teacher Involvement of Parents (TIP) Questionnaire. The quantitative results showed interactions between different domains of quality of lifenamely, basic needs (B = .361, p < .01) and psychological distress (B = .307, p < .05)-while perceptions of education had a statistically significant effect on school satisfaction. Three main themes emerged from the qualitative survey: economic constraints, constraints on the school environment, and issues with the curriculum. The ongoing disruption of general economic, environmental, health, and living conditions affects the domain of education, contributing to further undermining opportunities for improvements in subjective well-being and familial quality of life.
This exploratory study assessed the association between agency and life satisfaction, as well as the potential for life satisfaction, in its turn, to alleviate trauma symptoms and reduce negative emotion in a group of children exposed to war and military violence in Palestine. Two hundred and fifty Palestinian children, who had been recruited at primary schools in urban and rural areas, and refugee camps, completed the Multilevel Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale, Children’s Hope Scale (CHS), Children’s Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) and Positive and Negative Affect Scales. We performed structural equation modelling to evaluate the effects of agency on negative emotions and trauma symptoms via life satisfaction. The participants appeared to play an agentic role in mobilizing their own life satisfaction, and the more satisfied they were with their lives, the less they suffered from trauma symptoms. In terms of clinical practice, we advocate more active and participatory approaches to fostering children’s agency, a complex construct in need of further investigation via mixed-method quanti-qualitative and ethnographic studies.
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