Symptoms of PTSD among Children Living in War Zones in Same Cultural Context and Different Situations

Abstract

Situations of war and military conflict have been linked to the development of PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). To our knowledge, there are no studies that have examined, within the same conflict and the same culture, exposure to different traumatic events or traumatic events of different intensity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the symptoms of PTSD among Palestinian schoolchildren in two different areas of Hebron. A total of 381 schoolchildren from different parts of Hebron participated in the study. To evaluate the symptoms of PTSD, the children were asked to complete the Child Post Traumatic Stress Reaction Index. To evaluate the traumatic events experienced, they completed the Gaza Traumatic Event Checklist. Results indicate that 77.4% of the children living in Hebron show symptoms of moderatetosevere PTSD, and 20.5% of them meet the DSMIV diagnostic criteria for chronic PTSD. There were no significant differences in total symptoms between the two areas of Hebron, but there were differences within the specific types of symptoms. It is clear that the traumatic events of the war lead to the development of posttraumatic stress in children and that psychological intervention