Suchergebnisse

Lamia Thabet, Abdel Aziz Mousa Thabet, Sajida Abdul Hussein and Panos Vostanis report on a study that aimed to establish the level of emotional problems among 115 children aged 9–16 years (average 13.4), who were living in two orphanages in the Gaza Strip. The children's age of admission to the orphanage (average 8.8 years) was higher than in traditional orphanages in other countries. This was related to the reasons for admission, following their father's death, and the inability of their remaining family to care for them. However, children retained substantial contact with their family of origin by visiting during school holidays (88.6%) or being visited at the unit (97.4%). Using previous standardised mental health measures completed by the children and their main carers, children demonstrated high rates of anxiety, depressive and post-traumatic stress reactions. These mental health problems were strongly inter-related but were not found to be associated with social/care variables. Potential implications of the findings for orphanages and other residential units in developing countries are discussed. These should take into consideration the socio-cultural characteristics of each country and limited local resources; involve non-governmental organisations and local communities; tackle wider stigmatising attitudes; and instill a child-centred philosophy within these settings.

Abstract Background The authors examined factors associated with nutritional resilience/vulnerability among preschoolers in the Gaza Strip in 2007, where political violence and deprivation are widespread. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2007 using random sampling of kindergartens in order to select 350 preschoolers. Binary logistic regression was used to compare resilient (adequate nutrition) and vulnerable (stunted) groups with those with moderate nutrition. Results Approximately 37% of the subjects demonstrated nutritional resilience and 15% were vulnerable. Factors associated with nutritional resilience were child younger age, normal birth weight, actively hand- or spoon-feeding when the child was below two years, and residential stability in the past two years. The only factor associated with nutritional vulnerability was lower total score on the mother's General Health Questionnaire, which we interpret as a marker of maternal mental health. Conclusions Children with low-birth weight and older children had worse nutritional resiliency outcomes. Further, poorer outcomes for children were associated with lower maternal mental health status, as well as increased family residential instability. Our results add to the large literature on the pervasive effects of violence and instability on children and underscore the need for resources for early intervention and for the urgent resolution of the Palestinian and other armed conflicts.

The Gaza Strip has been badly affected by war and conflict over the past four decades. Palestinians are exposed to repeated incursions of the border areas, with many resulting casualties. At the end of December 2008, more than 230 Palestinians were killed and at least 770 were injured, including 100 in critical condition, after an Israeli airstrike. This was followed by a military operation that continued for 23 days, in which 1420 Palestinians, including 446 children, were killed. At least 4000 houses were totally destroyed and 16 000 partially damaged (Palestinian Red Crescent, 2008).

Abstract Background Research on children's responses to wartime trauma has mostly addressed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, PTSD is only one aspect of a complex set of responses. This study proposes to expand knowledge of well-being in children exposed to political violence through widening the conceptualization of well-being beyond PTSD, morbidity, and mortality by measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and its facets, physical health, and psychosocial health. Methods In 2007, we used a cross-sectional random sample of kindergartens to examine factors associated with HRQOL, as measured by the PedsQL 4.0, in 350 preschoolers in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, where political violence and deprivation are widespread. Results About 65% of the mothers reported severely impaired psychosocial and emotional functioning in their children. Preschoolers had lower HRQOL than the US reference sample and samples of children in other low income countries with large effect size. HRQOL was comparable to those of US children with several chronic diseases. Factors associated with lower HRQOL were older child age, male gender, and more exposures to traumatic events. Factors associated with HRQOL subscales were for lower psychosocial health: older child age, history of food, water, and electricity deprivation during incursion, and witnessing assassination of people by rockets. For lower physical health: older child age, history of food, water, and electricity deprivation during incursion, and having heard of a killing of a friend by soldiers. Conclusions HRQOL, including psychosocial health and emotional functioning is often severely impaired among preschoolers in the Gaza Strip. Exposure to both violent and non-violent negative events was associated with HRQOL in preschoolers.

Palestinian children and young people living both within and outside of refugee camps in the Middle East are the focus of this book. For more than half a century these children and their caregivers have lived a temporary existence in the dramatic and politically volatile landscape that is the Middle East. These children have been captive to various sorts of stereotyping, both academic and popular. They have been objectified, much as their parents and grandparents, as passive victims without the benefit of international protection. And they have become the beneficiaries of numerous humanitarian aid packages which presume the primacy of the Western model of child development as well as the psycho-social approach to intervention. Giving voice to individual children, in the context of their households and their community, this book aims to move beyond the stereotypes and Western-based models to explore the impact that forced migration and prolonged conflict have had, and continue to have, on the lives of these refugee children