Emotional insecurity about the community: A dynamic, within-person mediator of child adjustment in contexts of political violence

Evaluating the Role of Maternal and Paternal Trauma Exposure, Emotional Security, and Mental Health in Predicting Psychological Adjustment among Palestinian Adolescents

Previous research has established a strong relationship between family system functioning and child adjustment outcomes. However, within the context of Gaza, an evaluation of both maternal and paternal factors associated with adolescent psychological adjustment has not yet been thoroughly evaluated. The current study examines how maternal and paternal trauma exposure, emotional security, and mental health are related to parent-reported scores of adolescent psychological adjustment, while controlling for adolescent trauma exposure and security in the family. The sample included N = 68 family units living in the Gaza Strip, with two parents and one adolescent surveyed within each unit (adolescent Mage = 14.03 years). The regression model examining maternal factors was significant overall (F = 7.44, R2 = 42.70%, p < 0.001), with increased maternal depression associated with greater adolescent adjustment difficulties (β = 0.31, p = 0.011) and greater maternal emotional security in the family associated with fewer adolescent adjustment difficulties (β = −0.36, p = 0.004). The regression model examining paternal factors was also significant (F = 4.57, R2 = 31.00%, p < 0.001), with increased paternal trauma exposure associated with greater adolescent adjustment difficulties (β = 0.32, p = 0.012). Understanding family-level factors associated with adolescent adjustment is an important step in conceptualizing the mental health needs of conflict-affected youth within the context of Gaza and more broadly.

Well-being and Life Satisfaction in Children Living in Contexts of Political Violence: A Narrative Literature Review

Background

Children and youth growing up in contexts characterized by political violence are at high risk of developing mental health impairments. In recent years, a growing interest has been directed to the study of children’s well-being after being exposed to political violence in order to develop interventions aimed at preserving and enhancing it.

Objective

This study provides a synthetic overview of studies that have explored or implemented interventions aimed at improving well-being and life satisfaction in conflict-affected children.

Methods

We identified peer-reviewed studies relating to children’s well-being in conflict-affected environments through a narrative literature review. An ecological framework was used to organize the studies in relation to the individual, family, social and community factors playing a role in promoting and preserving participants’ well-being. Implications for practices, policies and research were summarized to highlight areas in which they need strengthening.

Results

Of 1221 unique studies returned from online searches of the literature, 70 qualified for full review, with a total of 22 peer-reviewed studies included in the final synthesis. Results indicate a range of domains and dimensions that mutually interact to either enhance or diminish children’s well-being and life satisfaction. Four studies explicitly focused on assessing the effectiveness of interventions aimed at promoting and assessing children’s well-being and health.

Conclusions

Researchers were able to identify several dimensions that were contributing to the children’s well-being in situations of significant adversity. The concept of well-being emerged as a combination of personal resources and supportive contexts—such as family, peers, and community—that vary over time or across contexts. Well-being and life satisfaction in children living in contexts of political violence: a narrative literature review.

Youth in Northern Ireland: Linking Violence Exposure, Emotional Insecurity, and the Political Macrosystem

Growing up in the aftermath of armed conflict puts youth at a higher risk for psychopathology—particularly in societies like Northern Ireland which continue to be characterized by intergroup tension and cyclical violence. This risk may be heightened during adolescence, when youth are beginning to explore their identities and are becoming more aware of intergroup dynamics in both their immediate communities and the broader society. It is also during this stage when youth increasingly witness or engage in antisocial behavior and sectarian activities. A series of studies in Belfast conducted by Cummings et al. (2014, Child Dev Perspect, 12(1), 16–38; 2019, J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol, 48(2), 296–305) showed that adolescents’ exposure to sectarian violence resulted in heightened emotional insecurity about the community and subsequent adjustment problems. Though the impact of direct exposure to violence is well documented, few studies have accounted for the influence of sectarianism that occurs outside of one's immediate environment. These influences may include the general climate surrounding events that are not experienced firsthand but are nonetheless salient, such as the overarching levels of tension between groups or societal discourse that is threatening to one's identity. These higher‐level influences, often referred to collectively as the macrosystem, are a necessary component to consider for adequately assessing one's socio‐developmental environment. Yet, measurement at this level of the social ecology has proven elusive in past work. The current study advances research in this area by using newspaper coding as a method of measuring the political macrosystem in Northern Ireland and assessing whether a tense or threatening climate serves as an added risk factor for youth living in Belfast.

In the current study, we measured sectarian violence at the level of the macrosystem by systematically collecting and coding newspaper articles from Northern Ireland that were published between 2006 and 2011 (N = 2,797). Each article was coded according to its level of overall political tension between Catholics and Protestants, threat to Catholics, and threat to Protestants. When aggregated, these assessments reflected the overarching trends in Catholic–Protestant relations during this period. In order to assess the association between these sociopolitical trends and the direct experiences of adolescents, the newspaper coding was linked with five waves of survey data from families (N = 999) in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of Belfast. Using a series of multilevel moderation analyses, we then tested whether intergroup tension and ingroup threat moderated the relation between adolescents’ direct exposure to violence and their emotional insecurity. These analyses were followed by a thematic analysis of the coded newspaper articles in order to provide further context to the findings.

The results indicated that adolescents’ response to direct exposure to sectarian violence varied based on the political climate at the time of their interview. Overall, the adolescents’ emotional insecurity about the community increased with exposure to sectarian violence. During periods when the sociopolitical climate was characterized by high levels of intergroup political tension, this relation was slightly weaker—regardless of the adolescents’ ingroup (i.e., Protestant vs. Catholic). During periods when the sociopolitical climate was coded as threatening, this relation was weaker for Catholic adolescents. That is, high levels of macro‐level threat—particularly events coded as threatening for Protestants—seemed to be a protective factor for Catholic adolescents. Group differences were also found based on the adolescents’ cumulative amount of exposure to sectarian violence. As threat in the macrosystem increased, Catholic adolescents who were directly exposed to higher than average levels of sectarian violence became more emotionally secure, while Catholics with little to no exposure to violence became more insecure. Contrastingly, Protestant adolescents directly exposed to higher than average levels of sectarian violence were more insecure than Protestants with little to no violence exposure.

A thematic analysis of the newspaper articles revealed the categories of events that were viewed by coders as politically tense and threatening. Five primary themes emerged: ineffective policing and justice, family and community unrest, memories of violence, destabilized leadership, and organized paramilitary activity. Many of the articles coded as most threatening reported on a spike in attacks organized by dissident republican groups—that is, members of the Catholic community with, particularly hardline views. This may be pertinent to the finding that associations between sectarian violence exposure and emotional insecurity were exacerbated during this time for Protestants but not for Catholics. Findings from the thematic analysis provide a deeper examination of the context of events taking place during the study period, as well as their potential bearing on interpretation of the macro‐level effects.

In conclusion, these findings illustrate how one's response to the immediate environment can vary based on shifts in the political macrosystem. The current study thus contributes conceptually, empirically, and methodologically to the understanding of process relations between multiple levels of the social ecology and adolescent functioning. These results may further inform the design of future interventions and policies meant to lessen the impact of political violence. The methods used here may also be useful for the study of other contexts in which macrosystem effects are likely to have a salient impact on individual wellbeing.