Adolescents’ Mental Health Outcomes According to Different Types of Exposure to Ongoing Terror Attacks

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of several types of exposure to terror attacks on adolescents' psychological outcomes in the context of ongoing terror. A total of 913 adolescents (51% girls) aged 12 to 18 years (12-13.6 = 33%; 13.7-15.6 = 38%; 15.7-18 = 28%) took part in the study. Detailed data were collected concerning objective, subjective and "mixed" types of exposure to terror, as well as demographics, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), emotional and behavioral problems and overall psychological and psychiatric difficulties. Subjective exposure was found to be the most important contributor to adolescents' post-traumatic stress and other mental health problems in this context. Gender also had important effects. The effects of objective and mixed types of exposure, as well as age, were less prominent. We did find, however, that the more adolescents consulted media, the less they experienced behavioral and emotional problems. Given that subjective experiences appear to be the best factor in explaining mental health outcomes when adolescents are confronted with persistent terror, the cognitive and emotional dynamics along with the coping behavior linked to such experiences merit further investigation.

Coping Resources as Explanatory Factors of Stress Reactions During Missile Attacks: Comparing Jewish and Arab Adolescents in Israel

“…Contrary to our hypotheses, these demographic characteristics also had no effect on stress reactions in our sample. Regarding age, previous findings are not consistent and our study joins a series of other studies in which age had no effect on stress during politically violent events (e.g., Braun-Lewensohn et al 2009a;Solomon et al 2005). Our last demographic variables, parents' education and parents' employment, which are considered as SES were expected to be related to stress reactions.…”

“…However, the effects of age remain unclear. Other studies which focused on ongoing exposure to terrorist attacks found no age effects (Braun-Lewensohn et al 2009a;Solomon et al 2005).…”

Coping Strategies as Mediators of the Relationship between Chronic Exposure to Missile Attacks and Stress Reactions

“…When investigating mental health outcomes in the context of political violent events, most research to date has quite naturally considered direct, physical exposure to the events as being an important factor in determining youth's subsequent emotional and behavioral problems. Several studies have demonstrated that higher levels of physical exposure to political violent events elicit more adverse psychological reactions, such as higher rates of anxiety, functional impairment, and other emotional problems (e.g., Braun-Lewensohn, Celestin-Westreich, Celestin, Verte, Ponjaert-Kristoffersen, 2009;Giacaman, Shanon, Saab, Arya, & Boyce 2007;Thabet, Tawahina, El Sarraj, & Vostanis, 2008). However, this type of exposure appears to explain a limited amount of variance in youths' mental health problems following political violent events (Braun-Lewensohn, Laufer & Solomon, 2010;Pfefferbaum et al, 2001).…”

Clinicians and Journalists Responding to Disasters

“…Our knowledge base about news consumption is primarily based on research correlating respondents' self-reports of news consumption with self-reports of symptoms after a major mass disaster (e.g., Nader et al 1993;Pfefferbaum et al 1999;Terr et al 1999;Pfefferbaum et al 2000Pfefferbaum et al , 2002Fairbrother et al 2003;Pfefferbaum et al 2003;Saylor et al 2003;Aber et al 2004;Phillips et al 2004;Cardena et al 2005;Otto et al 2007;Braun-Lewensohn et al 2009;Haravuori et al 2011). In general, the amount of self-reported…”