Karam Rita T, Huang Wenjing, Khammash Umaiyeh, Glick Peter, Shaheen Mohammed, Brown Ryan Andrew, Linnemayr Sebastian, Massad Salwa
RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA, USA.
Juzoor for Health and Social Development, Ramallah, Palestine.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Jun 2;25(1):2029. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23191-4.
Exposure to political violence, which pervades many parts of the Middle East and Northern African (MENA) region, is a key potential factor behind the rising rates of risky behaviors among youth, such as drug use, alcohol use, and sexual activity. Theory and empirical work on youth elsewhere suggests that individual characteristics, mental health, and youths' future orientation play a role in such behaviors. It is possible that political violence impacts behavior in part through its effects on these factors, in particular mental health. However, very little is known about the determinants of youth risk behavior in the region. Understanding the determinants will help MENA countries to deal with emerging public health threats as well as risks to youth health and well-being resulting from engagement in risky behavior. We examined determinants of risky behavior among Palestinian youth in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
We employed structural equation modeling using a 2014 nationally representative data from the Palestinian Youth Health Risk Study to examine the factors associated with engagement of youth ages 18-24 (N = 1449) in risky behaviors.
Personal experience of political violence was the strongest direct predictor of engagement in interpersonal violence (β = 0.21, p = 0.00) and substance use (β = 0.21, p = 0.00). With respect to indirect effects, global distress mediates the impact of witnessing and vicariously experiencing violence on the three outcomes. However, no association was found between personally experiencing political violence and global distress. The study also identified several individual characteristics, such as religiosity, that may be protective against risky behavior. Females are less likely to engage in risky behavior than males, despite experiencing higher levels of global distress.
The study is the first to use population-based data to test the effects of exposure to political violence on key risky health behaviors of Palestinian youth, a population facing protracted conflict and hardship for which solutions remain elusive. The findings suggest the need for customized interventions to target male and female Palestinians at an early age to develop their coping skills in dealing with violence and distress.
Not applicable.
政治暴力在中东和北非（MENA）地区的许多地方普遍存在，是青年中诸如吸毒、酗酒和性行为等危险行为发生率上升背后的一个关键潜在因素。其他地方关于青年的理论和实证研究表明，个人特征、心理健康以及青年的未来取向在这类行为中发挥作用。政治暴力可能部分通过其对这些因素，特别是心理健康的影响来影响行为。然而，对于该地区青年危险行为的决定因素知之甚少。了解这些决定因素将有助于中东和北非国家应对新出现的公共卫生威胁以及因参与危险行为而对青年健康和福祉造成的风险。我们研究了约旦河西岸和东耶路撒冷巴勒斯坦青年危险行为的决定因素。
我们使用2014年巴勒斯坦青年健康风险研究的全国代表性数据，采用结构方程模型来研究与18 - 24岁青年（N = 1449）参与危险行为相关的因素。
政治暴力的个人经历是参与人际暴力（β = 0.21，p = 0.00）和物质使用（β = 0.21，p = 0.00）的最强直接预测因素。关于间接影响，全球困扰介导了目睹和间接经历暴力对这三种结果的影响。然而，在个人经历政治暴力与全球困扰之间未发现关联。该研究还确定了几个可能预防危险行为的个人特征，如宗教信仰。尽管女性经历的全球困扰程度较高，但她们比男性更不太可能参与危险行为。
该研究首次使用基于人群的数据来测试接触政治暴力对巴勒斯坦青年关键危险健康行为的影响，巴勒斯坦青年面临长期冲突和困境，而解决方案仍然难以捉摸。研究结果表明需要针对巴勒斯坦男性和女性制定定制化干预措施，在早期培养他们应对暴力和困扰的技能。
不适用。
