ISRAELI PRESCHOOLERS UNDER SCUD MISSILE ATTACKS - A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE ON RISK-MODIFYING FACTORS

Background: The devastating effects of traumatic events on children ar e modulated by risk and protective factors. This study examines the di fferential effects of traumatic displacement of preschool children and their families following Scud missile attacks on Israel during the Pe rsian Gulf War. Methods: Three groups participated in the study: famil ies displaced after their houses were damaged, undisplaced families fr om the same neighborhood (without home damage), and families from a di stant city that was threatened but not directly attacked. Data concern ing the traumatic event, the child (personality, internalizing, extern alizing, and stress symptoms), the mother (Symptom Checklist-90-Revise d), and the family (Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales ) were gathered 6 months after the end of the war. Results: Displaced children and mothers showed higher externalizing and stress symptom le vels compared with undisplaced and threatened subjects. Destruction of the house and displacement, but not mere distance from the missile im pact, explained symptomatic behavior. Inadequate family cohesion predi cted symptomatic reaction for 3- and 4-year-old children but not for o lder ones. Conclusions: Both human and nonhuman factors contribute to the preschool child's adaptive mechanisms that regulate environmental stressful stimuli. These risk-modifying factors become more autonomous of caretakers with increasing age.