Stress, Trauma, Psychological Problems, Quality of Life, and Resilience of Palestinian Families in the Gaza Strip
Date
2015-12-06
Authors
AA, Thabet
Thabet, Sana Sabah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Physicians Postgraduate Press
Abstract
Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between stressor
due to restriction of Palestinian movement, traumatic events due to war on Gaza
and psychological symptoms, quality of life, and resilience.
Methods: A sample consisted of 502 randomly selected subjects from five areas
of the Gaza Strip. Measures for collecting data include Stressful Situations due
to Siege Scale, Gaza Traumatic Events Checklist, Brief Symptom Checklist-BSI-19,
World Health Organization Quality of Life, and Resilience scale.
Results: The most common stressful situations due siege were: feelings of being
living in a big prison cannot finish some construction and repair work in their
house due to shortage of cement and building materials, prices were sharply
increased in the last few years. Participants commonly reported traumatic events
such as hearing shelling of the area by artillery, hearing the sonic sounds of the
jetfighters, hearing the loud voice of drones, and watching mutilated bodies in TV.
Males had significantly experienced severe traumatic events than females. People
live in cities reported more traumatic events than those live in a village or a camp.
As a reaction to stress and trauma Palestinians participants reported anxiety
symptoms such as nervousness or shakiness inside, feeling tense or keyed up;
while depression symptoms reported were feeling sad, and weak in parts of their
body. However, feelings of worthlessness and thoughts of ending life were seldom.
Females reported less stress and trauma, but they showed anxiety and somatization
symptoms than males. Only 12.5% said that they evaluate their life as good, and 27.1%
said they enjoy their life. Better quality of life is an indicator of wellbeing; females had
higher level of quality of life. While, physical health activities of daily living were more
in males was. Palestinians used religious ways of coping with the stress and trauma,
and 98% said God is helping all the time, they were proud of their achievements, and
had strong sense of purpose in their life. There were statistically significant positive
relationship between stress due to the siege and closure and traumatic events,
psychological symptoms, depression, somatization, and anxiety. However, there was
statistically significant negative relationship between total score of stress due to the
siege and closure and the total resilience factor and subscales, and quality of life. Total
traumatic events were positively correlated with psychological symptoms, depression,
somatization, and anxiety.
Conclusion and implications: In this study, siege and blockade situation was very
stressful. Such stressors due to siege had negative influence families especially older
age fathers who live in refugee camp and unemployed and living in poor families.
Such findings are trigger to start national and international advocacy campaigns to
left the siege on Gaza Strip and allow free movements and association, which may
decrease stressors and consequences and improve the economic situation of the
families and decrease poverty of the families.
Traumatic experiences due to eight days war on Gaza impact on mental health and
quality of life highlight the need for developing new training program including
subjects such trauma, impact of trauma, stress management, symptoms related to trauma such as PTSD, anxiety, depression and ways of dealing such
symptoms especially for fathers who live in the cities.
Description
Keywords
Gaza strip , Psychological problems , Quality of life , Resilience , Siege , Stress , Trauma