Posttraumatic symptomatology and psychological distress among immigrant Israelis confronting the recurring threat of terrorism: An exploration of coping strategies, locus of control, perceived social support, and adult attachment.
Item
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Title
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Posttraumatic symptomatology and psychological distress among immigrant Israelis confronting the recurring threat of terrorism: An exploration of coping strategies, locus of control, perceived social support, and adult attachment.
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Identifier
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AAI3249913
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identifier
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3249913
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Creator
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Keigher, Jonathan S.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Diana Diamond
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Date
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2007
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Psychology, Social | Jewish Studies
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Abstract
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The primary aim of this investigation was to examine the relationship between coping behaviors, adult attachment styles, and psychological distress levels among Israelis facing the recurrent threat of Palestinian terrorism. It was hypothesized that severity of posttraumatic symptomatology would be positively associated with the use of Escape-Avoidance coping and negatively associated with the use of Distancing coping. Likewise, it was hypothesized that psychological distress would be positively correlated with insecure adult attachment scores and negatively correlated with secure adult attachment scores, perceived social support, and an internal locus of control. Moreover, it was hypothesized that Israeli adults with secure attachment styles would use different coping strategies to deal with the threat of terrorism than Israelis with insecure attachment styles. In particular, secure Israelis should use more planful problem solving and seeking-support coping efforts, whereas insecure Israelis (particularly avoidant) should use more distancing, escape-avoidance and self-controlling coping efforts to deal with the threat of terrorism.;Self-report measures were administered over the Internet to 200 English-speaking Jewish Israeli adults with a mean age of 41.58 years. The results of this study indicate that posttraumatic symptomatology is significantly correlated with escape-avoidance coping, but not distancing coping. Likewise, psychological distress is negatively correlated with secure attachment scores, perceived social support, and internal locus of control and positively correlated with insecure attachment scores. Furthermore, secure Israelis have lowered levels of psychological distress than insecure Israelis. The results also indicate that secure Israelis are more likely to seek out social supports to cope with terrorism than dismissing Israelis.;Overall, the data accentuates important connections between mental health and interpersonal relationships. In particular, the study espouses the important role of attachment security and a sense of being socially supported in psychological outcomes following exposure to traumatic events.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.