Post-traumatic Symptoms and Future Orientation among Israeli Adolescents Two Years after the Second Lebanese War: The Effects of War Exposure, Threat and Coping Appraisals

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the long term effects of exposure to the Second Lebanese War, personal and social resources, and cognitive appraisals, on post-traumatic stress symptoms and future orientation measures among 204 Israeli adolescents (M age = 15.45, SD = 1.19; 59.3% girls). The main findings showed that high war exposure was positively related to post-traumatic symptoms, future fears, and risk-taking behavior, while the appraisal of ability to cope showed the opposite pattern. High threat was positively related to post-traumatic symptoms and fears of the future while challenge was related to risk taking. High threat and low coping ability mediated the effects of war exposure on post-traumatic symptoms. The findings generally support the cognitive model of stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).