War-Related Loss of One's Father and Persistent Depressive Reactions in Early Adolescents

Abstract

Many mental health and clinical psychology experts are concerned with the relationship between war and warrelated traumatic experiences, on the one hand, and posttraumatic adaptations of children and adolescents on the other. Among others, Milgram (1989) found that if the level of victimization is high (multiplicity and intensity of stressors, duration of exposure, and extent and irreversibility of the adverse consequences), the frequency, severity, and chronicity of the resulting symptomatology in posttraumatic adaptation are also high. Moreover, some studies (Eth & Pynoos, 1985; Furman, 1986) showed that children’s reactions to traumatic experiences are related to their age, the nature of trauma, and its meaning to the child. Generally speaking, traumatic events can have a negative and lasting impact on emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social functions of a person. Trauma in childhood can lead further to a change in the conditions of further cognitive and emotional development. For children, war is an event that comes suddenly, dramatically, and is out of their control, but also with ongoing direct and indirect stressors. War endangers many things necessary for normal growth and development of children and adolescents, often leaving incorrigible losses. Loss of any kind, of any quantity, and of any possible importance to the person may have profound effects on emotions, thoughts, and behavior. Parkes and Wells (1983) found that the loss of a close person is one of the most poignant and painful human experiences. Death, as direct result of war, can provoke different psychological problems in children and adolescents. Still, the death of a parent is the biggest pain a child may experience. Some research shows that children who have lost their parent(s) have long-term psychological reactions and serious problems. Kaffman and Elizur (1983) found in their studies conducted on Israeli children that previously normal children were also at risk for later psychological problems after the sudden death of a parent. McConwille and Boag (1976; Petti, 1983) showed that the loss of parent(s) or siblings was connected with depression in children. The death of a parent was found by Brown, Harris and Bifulco (1986) to be clearly related to depression. However, their research also showed that the quality of care after such a loss may determine an even greater part of variance. War is certainly one of the most frequent and dramatic causes of coercive separations from very close persons. In war, separation is one of the main causes of emotional problems. Separation from relatives is one of the most stressful experiences in the life of a human being, regardless of age (Garmezy & Rutter, 1985). Many studies conducted during World War II (Coromina, 1943; A. Freud & Burlingame, 1943) showed that violent separation from the parents and European Psychologist