NCJ Number
212345
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 34 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2005 Pages: 459-470
Date Published
October 2005
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This Israeli study identified individual differences in perceptions of political violence, strategies for coping with violence, and adaptive outcomes.
Abstract
A sample of 227 Israeli adolescents (52 percent female) was drawn from 9th and 10th grade classes in 2 comprehensive high schools in central Haifa in Northern Israel. Although none of the participants had been personally injured in a terrorist attack, approximately two-thirds reported knowing someone who had been exposed to a terror attack (mainly friends and acquaintances). Participants indicated the extent to which they felt personally threatened or distressed by various facets of the security situation in Israel since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., terror attacks, weapons of mass destruction, and political violence between Arabs and Jews). They also indicated their subjective anxiety toward situations of physical danger. Fifteen coping strategies were offered for selection in terms of how participants would act in coping with anxiety about a terrorist attack. Outcome variables measured were negative mood states, self-reports of somatic symptoms, and posttraumatic reactions. Political-violence stress and trait anxiety were found to be significant predictors of both coping strategies and adaptive outcomes. Although the use of avoidance coping was reported more than other coping modes, the use of emotion-focused coping predicted stress reactions. Problem-focused coping measures did not alleviate stress reactions. Perceived control, i.e., the belief in one's capability to achieve desired outcomes, was related to adaptive outcomes. Females reported higher levels of political-violence stress and more negative affective reactions to terror attacks. 3 tables and 58 references