Stress reactions and coping resources of adolescents in chronic and acute situations evoked by missile fire were examined. Data were gathered during August 2006 (Second Lebanon War) on a sample of 303 Israeli adolescents living in Northern Israel (acute state) and 114 youths from Sderot and the Negev, an area which has been exposed to frequent rocket attacks in the last seven years (chronic state). State anxiety and psychological distress were measured as stress reactions. Sense of coherence, family sense of coherence, sense of community and level of exposure were investigated as potential explanatory factors in reducing emotional distress. The overall magnitude of variance explanation was found to be different at each state: a relatively high amount explained variance of stress reactions was found in the chronic stress situation, but not in the acute state. These data support the value of developing a model that differentiates stress situations with the aim of understanding patterns of significant resources in moderating stress reactions in each state. (Global Health Promotion, 2009; 16 (4): pp. 5—15)

The aim of this study was to explore the coping resources of hope and sense of coherence, which are rooted in positive-psychology theory, as potential resilience factors that might reduce the emotional distress experienced by adults from three cultural groups in Israel during the chronic-stress situation of a pandemic. The three cultural groups examined were secular Jews, Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Arabs. We compared these cultural groups during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, just before the Jewish New Year (mid-September 2020) as a second lockdown was announced. Data were gathered from 248 secular Jews, 243 Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and 203 Arabs, who were 18–70 years old (M= 37.14,SD= 12.62). The participants filled out self-reported questionnaires including the Brief Symptom Inventory as a measure of emotional/psychological distress (i.e., somatization, depression, and anxiety) and questionnaires about sense of coherence and different types of hope (i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal) as measures of coping resources and resiliency. Differences were found between the three groups in terms of several variables. The Arab participants reported the highest levels of emotional distress and the lowest levels of interpersonal and transpersonal hope; whereas the Ultra-Orthodox participants revealed the highest levels of sense of coherence and other resilience factors. A structural equation model revealed that, in addition to the sociodemographic factors, only sense of coherence and intrapersonal hope played significant roles in explaining emotional distress, explaining 60% of the reported distress among secular Jews, 41% among Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and 48% among Arabs. We discuss our findings in light of the salutogenic and hope theories. We will also discuss their relevancy to meaning-seeking and self-transcendence theory in the three cultural groups.

The salutogenic theory considers sense of coherence (SOC) as a cross-cultural concept (), meaning that in all cultures and at all stages of coping with a stressor, a person with a strong SOC is at an advantage in preventing tension from being transformed into stress. However, in seeking to understand how the SOC works, it is culture which seems to define which resources are appropriate. The aim of our paper is to examine this theoretical assumption of Antonovsky. Data on personal and community SOC as well as on stress reactions were gathered after the last fire in northern Israel (December 2010) among adolescents aged 12–18 belonging to three cultural groups (Jews, Druze, Muslims). We compared the pattern of personal versus community SOC in explaining stress reactions in the three cultures. Results indicate that personal SOC was the strongest predictor of stress reactions in all cultures. Community SOC, however, played a significant role mainly for Druze. Results are discussed relating to Antonovsky's theory and to adolescence as a ‘universal’ period, as well as considering the uniqueness of each culture separately.

To date, more than 11 million Syrians have been forced from their homes due to the civil war in that country. However, little research has been done on adolescent Syrian refugees. This study aimed to fill that gap in the research literature by examining how adolescent Syrian refugees cope with the harsh situation of having fled from their homes. We explored how personal capital factors, sense of coherence (SOC), wishes, and expectations, as well as socio-demographic and situational factors, contribute to a variety of mental health and psychological problems, namely, internalizing and externalizing problems and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Data were gathered from 110 adolescents aged 13–18 of whom 50.9% were boys. Participants filled out self-report questionnaires that asked about demographics, exposure to war, appraisal of danger, receiving aid, SOC, wishes, and expectations. They also completed the Achenbach Youth Form. The results show that girls appraised their situation as more dangerous and reported more internalizing, externalizing, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. By contrast, boys reported more exposure to war experiences and stronger SOC. Younger adolescents reported stronger SOC, while older adolescents reported more psychological problems. The adolescents who had more recently arrived in the refugee camp were in better condition, thereby reporting stronger SOC, higher expectations, and fewer psychological problems. The amount of time spent in the refugee camp, gender, exposure to war situations, and appraisal of danger all contributed to the explained variance in the different psychological problems. However, once the personal resource SOC was entered into the model, it mediated the relationships between all of the socio-demographic and situational variables, on the one hand, and the examined psychological problems, on the other. The results are discussed based on the personal-capital model of salutogenesis and its relations with traumatic stress.