We examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptom trajectories during ongoing exposure to political violence, seeking to identify psychologically resilient individuals and the factors that predict resilience. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a random sample of 1196 Palestinian adult residents of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem across three occasions, six months apart (September, 2007–November,2008). Latent growth mixture modeling identified PTSD, and depression symptom trajectories. Results identified three PTSD trajectories: moderate-improving (73% moderate symptoms at baseline, improving over time), severe-chronic (23.2% severe and elevated symptoms over the entire year); and severe-improving (3.5% severe symptoms at baseline and marked improvement over time). Depression trajectories were moderate-improving (61.5%); severe-chronic (24.4%); severe-improving (14.4%). Predictors of relatively less severe initial symptom severity, and improvement over time for PTSD were less political violence exposure and less resource loss; and for depression were younger age, less political violence exposure, lower resource loss, and greater social support. Loss of psychosocial and material resources was associated with the level of distress experienced by participants at each time period, suggesting that resource-based interventions that target personal, social and financial resources could benefit people exposed to chronic trauma.

We offer a functional perspective on hate, showing that hate has a unique pattern of appraisals and action tendencies. Hate is based on perceptions of a stable, negative disposition of persons or groups. We hate persons and groups more because of who they are, than because of what they do. Hate has the goal to eliminate its target. Hate is especially significant at the intergroup level, where it turns already devalued groups into victims of hate. When shared among group members, hate can spread fast in conflict zones where people are exposed to hate-based violence, which further feeds their hate. Hate can be reassuring and self-protective, because its message is simple and helps confirming people's belief in a just world.

Does ongoing exposure to political violence prompt subject groups to support or oppose compromise in situations of intractable conflict? If so, what is the mechanism underlying these processes? Political scholarship neither offers conclusive arguments nor sufficiently addresses individual-level forms of exposure to violence in the context of political conflict, particularly the factors mediating political outcomes. We address this by looking at the impact of exposure to political violence, psychological distress, perceived threat, and ethos of conflict on support for political compromise. A mediated model is hypothesized whereby exposure to political violence provokes support for the ethos of conflict and hinders support for compromise through perceived psychological distress and perceived national threat. We examined representative samples of two parties to the same conflict: Israelis (N ¼ 781) and Palestinians from Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank (N ¼ 1,196). The study's main conclusion is that ethos of conflict serves as a mediating variable in the

Does exposure to political violence prompt civilians to support peace? We investigate the determinants of civilian attitudes toward peace during ongoing conflict using two original panel datasets representing Israelis (n=996) and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza (n=631) (149 communities in total). A multi-group estimation analysis shows that individual-level exposure to terrorism and political violence makes the subject populations less likely to support peace efforts. The findings also confirm psychological distress and threat perceptions as the mechanism that bridges exposure to violence and greater militancy over time. The study breaks ground in showing that individual-level exposure – necessarily accompanied by psychological distress and threat perceptions – is key to understanding civilians’ refusal to compromise in prolonged conflict.

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.