CORRELATES OF WAR-INDUCED STRESS RESPONSES AMONG LATE MIDDLE-AGED ANDELDERLY ISRAELIS

Over a period of six weeks in the winter of 1991, Israel was exposed t o hostile enemy actions unlike any others in its history. In the Gulf War, civilians were front-line targets for Scud missiles which fell in the heart of the country's most heavily populated areas. One hundred and sixty-four late middle-aged and elderly Israelis were interviewed with respect to their emotional and behavioral reactions. Subjective h ealth, gender, and attribution of meaning were the most significant va riables, explaining most of the variance in the two measures of respon se. Satisfaction with informal network effectiveness was a relatively strong predictor of change in the affective distress variable. Degree of religious commitment and chronological age were weak but significan t predictors of affective distress and social interaction distress res pectively. Location of residence in relation to the missile impact zon e was of no significance in explaining variance in the dependent measu res. The findings are discussed in light of the uniquely subjective, i nterpretive context of stress phenomena, and the need to identify thos e variables that explain individual differences among older adults in their responses to stress.