Exposure to Prolonged Socio-Political Conflict and the Risk of PTSD and Depression among Palestinians

Abstract

Little is known about the impact of traumatic experiences and stressful life conditions on people in low-income countries who live in conditions of ongoing political violence. In order to determine the prevalence and predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression (MD) among Palestinians subjected to chronic political violence and upheaval, we used a stratified multi-stage cluster random sampling strategy to interview a representative sample of 1,200 Palestinian adults living in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Prevalence of PTSD/MD for men living in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem was 25.4%/29.9%, 22.6%/27.6%, and 16.1%/16.1%, respectively. For women, the prevalence of PTSD/MD was 23.8%/29.0%, 23.9%/28.9%, and 19.7%/27.6%. Among men, PTSD was significantly positively associated with age group, two or more incidences of political violence (compared to none), greater intrapersonal resource loss, and loss of faith in government. MD was positively associated with experiencing exposure to one, or two or more, incidences of political violence (compared to none), and greater interpersonal and intrapersonal resource loss. Among women, PTSD was positively associated with greater interpersonal and intrapersonal resource loss, and MD was positively associated with death of a loved one, two or more socio-political stressors (compared to none) previous to the past year, one or more socio-political stressors (compared to none) in the past year, and greater interpersonal and intrapersonal resource loss. Interpersonal and intrapersonal resource losses were consistently associated with PTSD and MD, suggesting potential targets for intervention and prevention efforts and thus provide important keys to treatment in areas of ongoing conflict.

Exposure to Violence, Ethos of Conflict, and Support for Compromise

“…Only by using force can you achieve anything in the Middle East. hypotheses tested here and are reported elsewhere (Canetti et al, 2009(Canetti et al, , 2010Hobfoll et al, 2006) See http://www.daphnacanetti.com/Exposure-to-Political-Violence-Warand-Terrorism-Surveys.html. 3.…”

Firms as Peaceful Oases Conceptualising the Role of Conflict-Sensitive Human Resource Management

“…Also reported are higher incidents of absenteeism, leave taking, and job separation (Alexander, 2004;Byron & Peterson, 2002;Howie, 2007). Furthermore, there have been reports of heightened levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (Alexander, 2004;Bader & Berg, 2014;Canetti et al, 2010;Howie, 2007;Mainiero & Gibson, 2003), feelings of not being supported by colleagues and top management (Reade, 2009), and anger and other negative emotions expressed by employees toward supervisors and the organisation (Maniero & Gibson, 2003).…”

“…In times of crisis, there may be a stoppage of regular services such as public transportation and banking services, as well as the closure of grocery stores (Canetti et al, 2010). A firm's leadership can do whatever is possible to support employees through provision of needed services and items.…”

What predicts threat perceptions toward people opposing to the government? A population-based study following Umbrella Movement, Hong Kong

“…Currently the model has only been replicated and extended within people who experienced traumatic and/or life-threatening events including armed conflicts, missile attacks, and terrorist attacks (Canetti et al, 2010;Canetti et al, 2013;Hall et al, 2015). This study assessed two of the key components of the stress-based model, namely psychological distress (i.e., anxiety and depressive symptoms) and threat perceptions toward protestors.…”

“…In the model, psychological distress was indicated by posttraumatic stress symptoms, which have been associated with higher threat perceptions toward outgroups (Canetti et al, 2010;Canetti, Hall, Rapaport, & Wayne, 2013;Hall, Saltzman, Canetti, & Hobfoll, 2015). those who experienced physical harms from terrorist attacks demonstrated higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms relative to those who were not directly exposed to terrorist attacks (Canetti-Nisim et al, 2009).…”