Evaluating the Role of Maternal and Paternal Trauma Exposure, Emotional Security, and Mental Health in Predicting Psychological Adjustment among Palestinian Adolescents

Catherine A. Maloney, Laura E. Miller-Graff, Bethany Wentz and Edward Mark Cummings
Additional contact information
Catherine A. Maloney: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
Laura E. Miller-Graff: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
Bethany Wentz: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
Edward Mark Cummings: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-17

Abstract: Previous research has established a strong relationship between family system functioning and child adjustment outcomes. However, within the context of Gaza, an evaluation of both maternal and paternal factors associated with adolescent psychological adjustment has not yet been thoroughly evaluated. The current study examines how maternal and paternal trauma exposure, emotional security, and mental health are related to parent-reported scores of adolescent psychological adjustment, while controlling for adolescent trauma exposure and security in the family. The sample included N = 68 family units living in the Gaza Strip, with two parents and one adolescent surveyed within each unit (adolescent M age = 14.03 years). The regression model examining maternal factors was significant overall ( F = 7.44, R 2 = 42.70%, p < 0.001), with increased maternal depression associated with greater adolescent adjustment difficulties ( β = 0.31, p = 0.011) and greater maternal emotional security in the family associated with fewer adolescent adjustment difficulties ( β = −0.36, p = 0.004). The regression model examining paternal factors was also significant ( F = 4.57, R 2 = 31.00%, p < 0.001), with increased paternal trauma exposure associated with greater adolescent adjustment difficulties ( β = 0.32, p = 0.012). Understanding family-level factors associated with adolescent adjustment is an important step in conceptualizing the mental health needs of conflict-affected youth within the context of Gaza and more broadly.

Keywords: violence; mental health; psychological adjustment; emotional security; Palestine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9288/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9288/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9288-:d:875218

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().