Children's Affective Reactions and Coping under Threat of Uprooting

Abstract

This study examines the response of children in the Golan Heights to the ambiguous situation during the continuing peace talks between Israel and Syria concerning a possible evacuation of the region's settlers. The study sample consisted of 218 fourth-grade children who responded to an adaptation of the Bar-Ilan Picture Test for Children (Itskovitz and Strauss, 1982, 1986). The results suggest that social support, defensiveness, religion and living in smaller settlements predicted better coping, whereas less social support and high emotional expressiveness predicted greater anxiety. The implications of these findings for school psychologists are discussed.