Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 10/2007

01-10-2007 | ORIGINAL PAPER

Symptoms of acute stress in Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens during the Second Lebanon War

Authors: Rivka Yahav, PhD, Miri Cohen, PhD

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 10/2007

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

The “Second Lebanon War” exposed northern Israel to massive missile attacks, aimed at civilian centers, Jewish and Arab, for a period of several weeks.

Objective

To assess prevalence of acute stress disorder (ASD) and acute stress symptoms (ASS) in Jewish and Arab samples, and their correlates with demographic and exposure variables.

Method

Telephone survey conducted in the third week of the second Lebanon war with a random sample of 133 Jewish and 66 Arab adult residents of northern Israel. ASD, ASS and symptoms-related impairment were measured by the Acute Stress Disorder Interview (ASDI) questionnaire, in addition to war-related exposure and demographic data.

Results

The majority of respondents experienced at least one of four symptom groups of ASD, 5.5% of the Jewish respondents and 20.3% of the Arabs met the criteria of ASD. Higher rates of Arab respondents reported symptoms of dissociation, reexperiencing and arousal, but a similar rate of avoidance was reported by the two samples. Higher mean scores of ASS and of symptoms-related impairment were reported by the Arab respondents. According to multiple regression analyses, younger age, female gender, Arab ethnicity and experiencing the war more intensely as a stressor significantly explained ASS variance, while Arab ethnicity and proximity to missiles exploding significantly explained the variance of symptoms-related impairment.

Conclusions

A substantial rate of participants experienced symptoms of acute stress, while for only small proportion were the symptoms consistent with ASD. Higher ASD and ASS were reported by the Arab sample, calling attention to the need to build interventions to reduce the present symptoms and to help prepare for possible similar situations in the future.
Literature
1.
Ahern J, Galea S, Resnick H, Kilpatrick D, Bucuvalas M, Gold J, Vlahov D (2002) Television images and psychological symptoms after the september 11 terrorists attacks. Psychiatry 65:189–300
2.
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn. Author, Washington, DC
3.
Barton KA, Blanchard EB, Hickling EJ (1996) Antecedents and consequences of acute stress disorder among motor vehicle accident victims. Behav Res Ther 34:805–813PubMedCrossRef
4.
Basoglu M, Mineka S, Paker M, Aker T, Livanou M, Gok S (1997) Psychological preparedness for trauma as a protective factor in survivors of torture. Psychol Med 27:1421–1433PubMedCrossRef
5.
Beck JG, Palyo SA, Canna MA (2006) What factors are associated with the maintenance of PTSD after a motor vehicle accident? The role of sex differences in a help-seeking population. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 37: 256–266PubMedCrossRef
6.
Bleich A, Gelkopf M, Melamed Y, Solomon Z (2006) Mental health and resiliency following 44 months of terrorism: a survey of an Israeli national representative sample. BMC 4:21CrossRef
7.
Bleich A, Gelkopf M, Solomon Z (2003) Exposure to terrorism, stress-related mental health and coping behaviors among a nationally representative sample in Israel. JAMA 290:612–620PubMedCrossRef
8.
Brimes PJ, Brunet A, Coppin-Calmes D, Arbus C, Coppin D, Charlet JP, Vinnemann N, Juchet H, Lauque D, Schmitt L (2005) Symptoms of peritraumatic and acute traumatic stress among victims of an industrial disaster. Psychiatr Serv 56: 93–95CrossRef
9.
Brimes P, Brunnet A, Carreras D, Ducasse JL, Charlet JP, Lauque D, Sztulman H, Schmitt L (2003) The predictive power of peritraumatic dissociation and acute stress symptoms for posttraumatic stress symptoms: a three-month prospective study. Am J Psychiatry 160:1337–1339CrossRef
10.
Bryant RA, Harvey AG (2000) Acute stress disorder: a handbook of theory, assessment and treatment. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC
11.
Cardena E, Dennis JM, Winkel M (2005) A snapshot of terror: acute posttraumatic responses to the september 11 attack. J Trauma Dissociation 6:69–84PubMedCrossRef
12.
Classen C, Koopman C, Hales R, Spiegel D (1998) Acute stress disorder as a predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Am J Psychiatry 155:620–624PubMed
13.
Cohen Silver R, Holman EA, McIntosh DN, Poulin M, Gil-Rivas V (2002) Nationwide longitudinal study of psychological responses to september 11. JAMA 288:1235–1244CrossRef
14.
Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral science, 2nd edn. Lawrence Earlbaum, Hillslade, NJ
15.
Cohen M, Eid J (2007) The effect of constant threat of terror on Israeli Jewish and Arab adolescents. Anxiety, Stress Coping (in press)
16.
Creamer M, Manning C (1988) Acute stress disorder following an industrial accident. Aust Psychol 33:125–129
17.
Galea S, Ahern J, Resnick H, Kilpatrick D, Bucuvalas M, Gold J, Vlahov D (2002) Psychological sequelae of the september 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. N Engl J Med 346:982–987PubMedCrossRef
18.
Harvey AG, Bryant RA (1988) The relationship between acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder: a prospective evaluation of motor vehicle accident survivors. J Consult Clin Psychol 6:507–512
19.
Harvey AG, Bryant RA (1999) Acute stress disorder across trauma populations. J Nerv Ment Dis 187:443–446PubMedCrossRef
20.
Hobfoll SE (1989) Conservation of resources. a new attempt at conceptualizing stress. Am Psychol 44: 513–524PubMedCrossRef
21.
Hobfoll SE, Canetti-Nisim D, Johnson JR (2006) Exposure to terrorism, stress-related mental health symptoms, and defensive coping among Jews and Arabs in Israel. J Consult Clin Psychol 74: 207–218PubMedCrossRef
22.
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (2206) Statistical abstract of Israel 2005—No.56. State of Israel, Jerusalem
23.
24.
Lloyd DA, Turner RJ (2003) Cumulative adversity and posttraumatic stress disorder: evidence from a diverse community sample of young adults. Am J Orthopsychiatry 73: 381–391PubMedCrossRef
25.
Satler DN, Preston AJ, Kaiser CF, Olivera VE, Valdez J, Schlueter S (2002) Hurricane Georges: a cross-national study examining preparedness, resource loss, and psychological distress in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and the United States. J Trauma Stress 15:339–350CrossRef
26.
Schlenger WE, Caddell JM, Ebert L (2002) Psychological reactions to terrorist attacks: findings from the National Study of Americans’ Reactions to September 11. JAMA 288:581–588PubMedCrossRef
27.
Schuster M, Stein BD, Jaycox LH, Collins RL, Marshall GN, Elliott MN, Zhou AJ, Kanouse DE, Morrison JL, Berry SH (2001) A national survey of stress reactions after the september 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. N Eng J Med 345:1507–1512CrossRef
28.
29.
Slone M, Adiri M, Arian A (1988) Adverse political events and psychological adjustment: two cross-cultural studies. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 37:1058–1069CrossRef
30.
Solomon Z, Gelkopf M, Bleich A (2005) Is terror gender-blind? Gender differences in reaction to terror events. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 4:947–954CrossRef
31.
Staab JP, Griefer TA, Fullerton CS, Ursano RJ (1996) Acute stress disorder, subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder and depression after a series of typhoons. Anxiety 2:219–225PubMedCrossRef
32.
Metadata
Title
Symptoms of acute stress in Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens during the Second Lebanon War
Authors
Rivka Yahav, PhD
Miri Cohen, PhD
Publication date
01-10-2007
Publisher
D. Steinkopff-Verlag
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 10/2007
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0237-5

Other articles of this Issue 10/2007

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 10/2007 Go to the issue

ORIGINAL PAPER

Socio-demographic and clinical features associated with demoralization in medically ill in-patients

ORIGINAL PAPER

Sources of stress and burnout in acute psychiatric care: inpatient vs. community staff

ORIGINAL PAPER

Body size and violent offending among males in the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort

ORIGINAL PAPER

The impact of mental illness on patient satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship

ORIGINAL PAPER

Measurement of quality of life in schizophrenia: a comparison of two scales

ORIGINAL PAPER

Physical activity, dietary habits and Coronary Heart Disease risk factor knowledge amongst people with severe mental illness