Avital Laufer

Examining the Relationship Between Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth

To extend the literature the present study aims to examine the interrelationships between resilience (defined by a lack of posttraumatic stress disorder following trauma) and posttraumatic growth. Two studies were conducted of Israeli: (a) adolescents exposed to terror (N = 2908), and (b) citizens and army personnel following the second Lebanon War (N = 588). Across studies the results showed that high levels of resilience were associated with the lowest posttraumatic growth scores. The results imply that although growth and resilience are both salutogenic constructs they are inversely related. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Posttraumatic growth in adolescence: Examining its components and relationship with PTSD

To address gaps in the literature, this study examined the components of posttraumatic growth, and the relationship between growth and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants were from a pooled sample of 4,054 Israeli adolescents exposed to terror of whom 210 (5.5%) met criteria for PTSD. Measures included the Child Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction Index and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Principal components analysis showed two correlated components of outward and intrapersonal growth. Regression modeling showed that the relationship between the growth and PTSD measures was linear and curvilinear (inverted-U). These results replicated accounting for heterogeneity in PTSD, exposure and subsamples. Collectively, the results imply that posttraumatic growth in adolescence is characterized by two robust components, and is greatest at moderate posttraumatic stress levels.

PTSD symptoms, forgiveness, and revenge among Israeli Palestinian and Jewish adolescents

Exposure to political terror and its psychological toll were assessed in 276 Israeli Palestinian and 1,469 Jewish adolescents using self-report questionnaires. Israeli Palestinians displayed more posttraumatic symptoms, higher levels of objective exposure to terror, more negative life events, lower ability to forgive, and a higher need for vengeance than their Jewish counterparts. Although the two groups did not differ in fear levels, Israeli Palestinians expressed more favorable attitudes toward peace. Ethnicity played a major role in explaining the variance of posttraumatic symptomatology. Israeli Palestinians displayed increased vulnerability to mental distress when compared to their Jewish counterparts. The unique roles of subjective fear, attitudes towards peace, forgiveness, and revenge among Israeli Palestinians are discussed.

In the shadow of terror : Changes in world assumptions in Israeli youth

Summary This study examined the effects of terror on world assumptions in Israeli youth. The sample comprised 2,999 adolescents aged 13-16 who were exposed to different levels of terror. Relations of objective and subjective exposure to terror, life events, ideological, religious commitment, and social support with world assumptions were assessed. Results show that personal and social resources made a more substantial contribution to the explained variance of world assumptions than exposure to terror. Implications of the associations between religious and ideological commitment and social support with world assumptions are discussed.

The Role of Religious Orientations in Youth’s Posttraumatic Symptoms After Exposure to Terror

This study examined the effect of religiosity on youth’s posttraumatic symptoms resulting from exposure to terror. Participants consisted of 1,973 Israeli high school students. Objective and subjective exposure (fear) to terror were positively associated with posttraumatic symptoms. Intrinsic religiosity was negatively associated with posttraumatic symptoms and found to decrease the effects of objective exposure. Personal extrinsic orientation and social extrinsic orientation were positively associated with posttraumatic symptoms, having no mediating effect. Theoretical implications regarding religiosity as a coping mechanism in light of exposure to terror are discussed.

Ideological Delinquency: Gender Differences Among Israeli Youth During the Withdrawal From the Gaza Strip

This study aims to examine the factors that channel boys and girls toward committing illegal activity. The measures examined include social control factors (belief, commitment, attachment, and involvement) and ideological religious worldviews. The study examines 262 Israeli adolescents who have taken part in illegal and legal activities during the resistance to the Gaza evacuation. Findings suggest that illegal activity levels are greater among boys than girls, whereas ideological obligation and commitment are greater among girls than boys. Involvement with friends positively predicts ideological obligation among boys, which in turn is related to increased likelihood of illegal activity. Among girls, lower commitment and lower belief as well as greater ideological obligation are predictive of illegal activity.

Social Control Theory and the Connection With Ideological Offenders Among Israeli Youth During the Gaza Disengagement Period

The present study examined whether social control theory is capable of explaining youths law violations in instances of conflict between the ideological religious worldview and the laws of the country in which they reside. Differences in the control factors (commitment, belief, attachment, and involvement) were examined among Israeli adolescents who took part in legal activity (n = 163) and illegal activity (n = 99) during the resistance to the Gaza evacuation. The findings indicate that the model provides a partial explanation for ideological delinquency. It was found that involvement with friends and the absence of belief in the formal legal system were associated with illegal ideology activity. Attachment to friends and parents and involvement with parents had no effect on youths participation in illegal ideological activities.

Coping strategies of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel: Association with PTSD and dissociation

UNLABELLED The aim of this study was to examine the relations between coping strategies, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and dissociation among Jewish Ethiopian refugees in Israel (following exposure to pre-, peri- and post-migration stressful events). METHOD A random sample (N = 478) of three waves of refugees took part in the research (N = 165; N = 169; N = 144). Religiosity, coping strategies, stressful and traumatic events, pre- and peri- migration, post-migration difficulties, posttraumatic symptoms, and dissociation were assessed. RESULTS A significant relationship was found between PTSD symptoms and avoidance coping over and above immigration wave and traumatic events. Dissociation was positively associated with passivity and antisocial coping and negatively associated with social joining and level of religiosity, over and above immigration wave and traumatic events. The findings are discussed in the light of the coping strategies employed by Ethiopian refugees.

Political Ideology and Psychological Symptoms Following Terror

The article examines the associations between political ideology and level of psychological symptoms in youth exposed to terror attacks. The study included 2,999 7th to 10th graders from various parts of Israel. Political ideology was examined in two ways: (a) as a content dimension: “political stand”—holding right, centrist, or left wing views and (b) as a content-free dimension: “ideological commitment”—which measured the strength of the political ideology regardless of its content. Findings indicated that youth holding right wing beliefs reported less distress. However, strong ideological commitment was associated with higher levels of symptoms, regardless of the political stand. The discussion concerns the differentiated role of content and content-free dimensions of a political ideology and its implication in psychological distress in the wake of political terror.

PTSD and PTG among Israeli mothers: Opposite facets of exposure to terrorism

The aim of the this study was to test the association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), posttraumatic growth (PTG), and coping strategies among Israeli mothers with prolonged exposure to rocket missiles. One hundred fifty-two mothers, from the Western Negev region of Israel, took part in the study. Respondents were affected by prolonged exposure to missile attacks even when they themselves had not been hit or injured. A positive correlation was found between PTSD and PTG. Problem-focused coping was found to mediate the relationship between PTSD and PTG; the higher the PTSD, the greater the use of problem-focused coping and the greater the posttraumatic growth. The results help understand the association between PTSD and PTG. The finding whereby problem-focused coping mediates the PTSD-PTG relationship is important for comprehending the association between the variables and the significance of growth in human life and for constructing intervention programs that promote growth following trauma. In addition, the study contributes to raising awareness both of how mothers cope and that they are a separate risk group with distinct growth possibilities.