title: Exposure to threat of war and terror, political attitudes, stress, and life satisfaction among teenagers in Israel.
abstract: The study examines the pattern of relations between level of threat, political attitude (willingness for political compromise), and well-being (level of stress and life satisfaction) among Israeli teenagers in reaction to Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon. Participants were 419 teenagers from two residential areas: the Northern area (close to the Israeli-Lebanese border) and the Central area (distant from the border). The results show: (a) significant differences between the two groups on: political attitude (Center scored higher), on level of stress (North scored higher), and on life satisfaction (North scored lower); (b) a significant negative correlation between exposure to threat and political attitude; (c) significant negative correlations between political attitude and measures of stress, and a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction; (d) political attitude mediates between level of threat and well-being. Political and educational implications, and mental health policy are discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel. michals@research.haifa.ac.il
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shamai
authors.forename: Shaul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kimhi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011057:Politics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D023481:Terrorism; D014857:Warfare