El-Khodary Basel, Samara Muthanna, Askew Chris
Department of Psychology, Kingston University London, Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom.
Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom.
Front Psychiatry. 2020 Mar 31;11:4. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00004. eCollection 2020.
The situation in the Gaza Strip is uncommon in the frequency with which children are exposed to war-related traumatic events on a daily basis and because of the long-term nature of the conflict. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among children and adolescents in the Gaza Strip increased after the recent wars. The aims of the study are: To investigate the prevalence and nature of war traumatic events and PTSD; and to investigate how these traumatic events predict PTSD when taking into account demographic and socioeconomic status factors amongst Palestinian children and adolescents in the Gaza Strip.
The sample consists of 1,029 school pupils (11-17 years old): 533 (51.8%) were female and 496 (48.2%) were male. War-Traumatic Events Checklist (W-TECh) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders Symptoms Scale (PTSDSS) were used.
The majority of children and adolescents experienced personal trauma (: 909; 88.4%), witnessed trauma to others (: 861; 83.7%) and observed demolition of property (: 908; 88.3%) during the war. Compared to girls, boys showed significantly more exposure to all three event types as well as overall traumatic events. Results also demonstrated that the prevalence of DSM-V PTSD diagnosis was 53.5% ( = 549). Further, children who had experienced personal trauma, trauma to others, and the demolition of property were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with PTSD compared to those who had not, even when adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors. The strongest war trauma for PTSD is personal trauma followed by witnessing trauma and then observing demolition of properties.
The study provides valuable evidence that demographic and socioeconomic factors mediate the relationship between different war traumatic events and PTSD. Interventions should take into account the children's background including their gender, age, where they live, and their socioeconomic status (e.g., family income, parents' educational level, family size) to alleviate the psychological symptoms and to enhance their resilience.
加沙地带的情况不同寻常，儿童每天都频繁遭受与战争相关的创伤性事件，且冲突具有长期性。近期战争后，加沙地带儿童和青少年中创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的患病率有所上升。本研究的目的是：调查战争创伤性事件和PTSD的患病率及性质；并在考虑加沙地带巴勒斯坦儿童和青少年的人口统计学和社会经济状况因素的情况下，研究这些创伤性事件如何预测PTSD。
样本包括1029名在校学生（11 - 17岁）：533名（51.8%）为女性，496名（48.2%）为男性。使用了战争创伤性事件清单（W - TECh）和创伤后应激障碍症状量表（PTSDSS）。
大多数儿童和青少年在战争期间经历了个人创伤（909人；88.4%）、目睹他人遭受创伤（861人；83.7%）以及观察到财产被破坏（908人；88.3%）。与女孩相比，男孩在所有三种事件类型以及总体创伤性事件中的暴露程度明显更高。结果还表明，DSM - V PTSD诊断的患病率为53.5%（n = 549）。此外，即使在调整了人口统计学和社会经济因素后，经历过个人创伤、他人遭受创伤以及财产被破坏的儿童被诊断为PTSD的可能性也显著高于未经历过的儿童。对PTSD影响最强的战争创伤是个人创伤，其次是目睹创伤，然后是观察到财产被破坏。
该研究提供了有价值的证据，表明人口统计学和社会经济因素介导了不同战争创伤性事件与PTSD之间的关系。干预措施应考虑儿童的背景，包括他们的性别、年龄、居住地点以及社会经济状况（如家庭收入、父母教育水平、家庭规模），以减轻心理症状并增强他们的恢复力。
