Resilience among a large sample of adult Palestinians in the Gaza Strip: examining contextual sociodemographic factors and emotional response through a social-ecological lens.

OBJECTIVES

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continue to cope with persistent violations of their social, economic, political, and civil rights. This study sought to measure resilience among adult Palestinians and its relation to contextual factors (sociodemographic variables) and emotional response using a social-ecological framework.

STUDY DESIGN

Community-based, cross-sectional.

METHODS

Involving 1068 households in the Gaza Strip, individuals (aged ≥18 years) completed (a) a questionnaire on demographics and social construct, (b) 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Cronbach alpha = .91), and (c) Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) (Cronbach alpha = .89). Bivariate analysis, Pearson correlations, and step-wise multiple regression were conducted.

RESULTS

Gazans scored significantly lower resilience compared to the normative mean in the general population (mean score = 75.9 vs. 80.4). Bivariate analysis revealed that being employed and highly educated were associated with higher resilience scores. Likewise, participants showed statistically lower positive affects (PA) (mean = 33.49, standard deviation [SD] = 7.5: 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.39-1.23, P < 0.00) and higher negative affects (NA) (mean = 22.3, SD = 7.0; 95% CI 3.68-4.73, P < 0.001) compared to normative means. Resilience scores were positively correlated with PA (r = .40, P < 0.001), with much weaker negative correlation with NA (r = -.10, P < 0.001). Only PA and NA were significant predictors of resilience (r = 16%); PA recorded a positive and higher beta value (beta = .38, P < 0.001) than NA (beta = -.089, P = 0.017).

CONCLUSIONS

Sumud, the Palestinian notion of resilience, is an interactive process that depends on individual assets and contextual resources. Given the political turmoil and high levels of poverty, the employment opportunities must be addressed for this highly educated population to preserve resilience. Providing accessible mental health and social support services is critical.