NATAL’s research | American Friends of Natal

“To promote knowledge and awareness about terror and war related trauma in Israeli society…”

One of the vital parts of our mission is to promote research and understanding of trauma. Below are articles on trauma, some of which were published by NATAL’s own professional staff.

A school-based, teacher-mediated prevention program (ERASE-Stress) for reducing terror- related traumatic reactions in Israeli youth: a quasi-randomized controlled trial

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

(24 november 2008, Marc Gelkopf and Rony Berger)

Since September 2000 children in Israel have been exposed to a large number of terrorist attacks. A universal school based intervention program, for dealing with the threat of terrorism, was introduced to a middle school. As a result, these students have shown reduction of stress symptoms.

The mental health impact of terrorism in Israel: A repeat cross-sectional study of Arabs and Jews

ACTA FSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA

(8 January 2008, M. Gelkopf, Z. Solomon, R. Berger, A. Bleich)

An wide-scale research on the mental health impact of terrorism on Arabs and Jews concluded that terrorism has a big impact on civilian population – a short term impact upon the Israeli civilians and a long term impact on the Arab civilians.

School-Based Intervention for Prevention and Treatment of Elementary-Students’ Terror-Related Distress in Israel: A Quasi-Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

(24 november 2008, Marc Gelkopf, and Rony Berger)

An unusual experiment at an elementary school: children who presented trauma symptoms took part in an intervention structured program: “overshadowing the threat of Terrorism”, after two months the group reported significant improvement on all measures.

Mental health and resiliency following 44 months of terrorism: a survey of an Israeli national representative sample

BMC Medicine

(27 August 2006 , Avi Bleich, Marc Gelkopf, Yuval Melamed and Zahava Solomon)

Israeli citizens have been exposed to intense and ongoing terrorism since September 2000. This study examines the long-term impact of ongoing terrorism by evaluating the psychological sequelae of 44 months of terrorism in Israel, with hope to identify factors that may contribute to vulnerability and resilience.

Is terror gender-blind? Gender differences in reaction to terror events

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

(09 December 2005, Zahava Solomon . Marc Gelkopf . Avraham Bleich)

This unique study examines gender differences in posttraumatic vulnerability in the face of the terror attacks that occurred during the Al-Aqsa Intifada.