The Psychological Wellbeing of Palestinian Children Living among Israeli Settlements in Hebron Old City

Abstract

For more than ten decades, the Palestinian Occupied Territories are marked by a protracted political conflict. During this conflict, more than 300 settlements have been built inside West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem “Occupied Palestinian Territories”, since that time the conflict between Palestinian and Israeli occupation forces is still ongoing. One of the most important results of this occupation and conflict is the suffering of Palestinian living among these Israeli settlements. Therefore, this study aimed at gaining insight into the impact of living within this situation on children and adolescents’ psychological wellbeing. 357 8-18 years old Palestinian children took part; Two self-report questionnaires: the UCLA-PTSD-Reaction Index, investigating symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires, looking at overall psychological problems, were filed by children themselves, mothers, and teachers. Descriptive analyses investigated mental health differences between both variables, gender, and age, and the mental health outcomes. This study shows the important impact of being lived among Israeli settlements on the psychological wellbeing of Palestinian, above, girls, younger adolescents, also reported higher scores on both questionnaires, the study urges for more psychological care and support for family members – in particular children.