Palestinian Youth of the Intifada: PTSD and Future Orientation

The Reconciliation Attitudes of Former Child Soldiers in Northern Uganda

“…On the one hand, children reported less goodwill/more negative future orientation if they were exposed to more war-related stressors but less daily stressors. Similar findings were made among youth living in post-conflict situation [48]. On the other hand, children exposed to more daily stressors showed more goodwill/more positive future orientation if they were also exposed to more war-related stressors.…”

Future-Oriented Thinking and Adjustment in a Nationwide Longitudinal Study Following the September 11th Terrorist Attacks

“…For one group, the future may be dominated by goals of physical survival (i.e., getting food, shelter; avoiding violence, death), whereas for the other, the future may involve making decisions about school, career, and perhaps building a family. While these different views of the future may both ultimately prove beneficial for short-term well-being (i.e., survival), one is inherently more narrow, stressful, and potentially more damaging to long-term well-being (see Lavi & Solomon, 2005).…”

“…Although we have demonstrated that remaining focused on the past in the aftermath of trauma can be detrimental for long-term adjustment (Holman & Silver, 1998), little research has sought to understand the relationship between future orientation and adaptation in the context of coping with extreme stress. Moreover, to date the research offers no clear message about how future orientation and post-trauma adaptation are related: There are findings suggesting that trauma survivors may develop a stronger belief in a more positive future (Carmil & Breznitz, 1991), whereas others suggest that future orientation is either limited or more negative following trauma (Lavi & Solomon, 2005;Zaleski, 1996).…”

“…Fear of future threat and loss of control have been found to be strong predictors of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptomatology among survivors of the war in the former Yugoslavia (Başoğlu et al, 2005). Palestinian youths also report a more pessimistic and limited view of the future that is associated with higher rates of PTSD when compared to Israeli-Palestinians (Lavi & Solomon, 2005;cf. Terr, 1991).…”

The Social Language of Time: The Time Perspective–Social Network Connection

“…Until recently TP has been viewed and measured as a unidimensional, stable personality construct (present-or future-oriented; e.g., Strathman, Gleicher, Boninger, & Edwards, 1994;Zuckerman, 1994). But TP is also malleable in that it expands as cognitive development occurs and is responsive to changing life situations-life stress and adversity may powerfully affect an individual's sense of time and its passing (see Carstensen et al, 1999;Holman & Silver, 1998;Lavi & Solomon, 2005). At the same time, however, if one domain of TP (past, present, future) is habitually and chronically overused it may become a more rigid dispositional style that predicts subsequent behavior (e.g., past-orientation following trauma; Holman & Silver, 1998).…”