THE IMPACT OF THE PEACE TREATY ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING - A FOLLOW-UP-STUDY OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN

This research examined the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian peace tre aty and Palestinian children's perception of it on their self-esteem a nd neuroticism. We also studied the relative importance of earlier exp osure to traumatic experiences and psychosocial resources indicated by the children's creativity, intelligence and political activity in inf luencing their psychological well-being after the peace treaty. The sa mple used was a follow-up group of 64 Palestinian children of 11-12 ye ars of age, living in the Gaza Strip. The results showed that the leve l of neuroticism was significantly lower after the peace treaty than b efore. The children's earlier exposure to traumatic experiences was st ill significantly related to high neuroticism and low self-esteem afte r the peace treaty. Acceptance of the treaty and participating in the subsequent festivities mitigated the negative impact of the traumatic experiences on their well-being. Increased neuroticism and decreased s elf-esteem were found only among children who refused to accept the pe ace treaty and did not participate in the festivities. Creativity and Intifada activity promoted their post-peace treaty well-being, in term s of psychosocial resources. The more creative the children were, the more their neurotic symptoms decreased because of the treaty and the h igher self-esteem they had after it. The more active the children were during the Intifada, the more their self-esteem increased because of the treaty.