The relationship between sense of hope, family support and post-traumatic stress disorder among children: The case of young victims of rocket attacks in Israel

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is diagnosed commonly in Israeli children following violent episodes of the ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict. Research has suggested that as many as 70% of war-affected children present symptoms of PTSD. This study examined two factors that may contribute to resiliency: perceived social support and sense of hope. The research participants (n = 311) were children who experienced the rocket attacks during Israel's Second Lebanon War and a control group of Israeli children from a town that was not affected directly by the 2006 war. It was hypothesized that a complex relationship would be demonstrated between presentation of symptoms of PTSD and perceived social support. It was hypothesized further that an inverse relationship would be measured between sense of hope and presentation of symptoms of PTSD in the children who experienced the rocket attacks and that those in the control group would show less symptoms of PTSD than those in the experimental group. Finally, females were expected to show more symptoms of PTSD than males. The results showed a negative correlation between sense of hope and PTSD, while family support was correlated positively with PTSD.