Stress and Coping in Israel During the Persian Gulf War

Abstract

Psychological research in Israel on the Gulf War focused on its unique features—nocturnal missile attacks on civilian targets, absence of retaliatory strikes by the Israel Defense Forces, threat of chemical attack, compulsory confinement of family members in close quarters during the missile attacks, and changes in soldier‐civilian and adult‐child roles. The studies summarized here deal with groups who suffered no personal or property loss, and who consequently suffered few intense, chronic adverse reactions. Researchers investigated the conventional variables in the stress and coping paradigm—objective stressors (e.g., proximity to damaged sites), coping strategies, interpersonal and intrapersonal resources, prewar vulnerability, the level of acute stress reactions (affective, cognitive, behavioral, and somatic) at the onset of the war, and the reduction in intensity and frequency of these stress reactions during and after the war. Findings are consistent with the conclusion that the society as a whole coped well with unfamiliar threats, many of which did not materialize. Original contributions from these studies, obtained under the unique “real‐time” conditions of the Gulf War for Israeli society, are discussed. Lay and peer evaluations of the contribution of psychologists to the war are summarized.

A Stress-Coping Model for Conceptualizing the Impact of Substance Abuse on Families

“…These problems have included chronic physical health problems (Felton, Revenson, Hinrichsen, & Gregory, 1984;Zautre & Manne, 1992), mental health problems (Billings & Moos, 1984;Farhall & Gehrke, 1997;Moos, 1993), and substance abuse problems (Hawkins, 1992;Moos, 1993;Tucker, 1982). It has also been used to describe the impact of other environmental stress including coping after a divorce (Nelson, 1989), during a war (Milgram, 1993), with peer pressure exerted on adolescents to use substances (Wills, Vaccaro, & Benson, 1995), of workers with stressful jobs (Ramathan, 1995), and the daily decisions of very young children (Kliewer, Fearnow, & Walton, 1998). Proponents of the model suggest that it can be used to better understand coping under most life situations which produces measurable levels of stress (Moos, 1997).…”

Strategies used by hospital nurses to cope with a national crisis: a manager's perspective

“…Several studies have been conducted in Israel, during and after the Gulf War in 1991. These studies dealt with the psychological effects of war on children, parents, youths and adults, stress reactions and coping with a national crisis ( Carmeli et al 1991; Karsenty et al 1991; Milgram 1993; Eilaty 1994). No research dealt with the psychological effects of the national state of emergency on the nurses.…”

Who is Prone to React to Coinciding Threats of Terrorism and War? Exploring Vulnerability Through Global Versus Differential Reactivity

“…In the Gulf War, Iraqi missile attacks on Israel caused death, injury, and damage, along with prevalent reactions of distress (Lomranz et al 1994;Keinan 1994;Milgram 1993;Solomon 1995;Shalev and Solomon 1996). More recently, a study on Israelis during the Al-Aqsa Intifada (Bleich et al 2003) found that almost half of the participants in a nationwide sample had been exposed to terrorism either personally or through relatives and friends.…”

“…Israeli studies suggest that the detrimental impact of terrorism and wars on mental health may be ameliorated by habituation, accommodation, and coping (Lomranz et al 1994;Milgram 1993;Zeidner 2006). Studies on the aftermath of the September 11 attacks also showed positive feelings (e.g., love, optimism) coexisting with negative reactions (Fredrickson et al 2003).…”