Acute stress disorder in older, middle-aged and younger adults in reaction to the second Lebanon war

Objectives: To compare rate of acute stress disorder (ASD) and intensity of acute stress symptoms (ASS) in younger, middle-aged and older Israeli citizens exposed to missile attacks during the second Lebanon war. Method: A telephone survey of a random sample of residents in the northern area of Israel was conducted in July 2006, during the third week of Lebanon war. Respondents were divided into groups aged 18-40, 41-69 and 70+. ASD and ASS were measured by the Acute Stress Interview questionnaire and by war-related exposure variables and demographic data. Results: Exposure variables were similar in the three age groups. Older respondents reported lower intensity of ASS and obtained lower means for each of the symptoms criteria than the young adults, while the middle-aged adults were in between the younger and the older group. ASD criteria were met by 13.2% of the younger, 4.7% of middle-aged and 4.3% of older respondents (p > 0.05), and subsyndromal ASD was found in 20.5%, 14.1% and 4.4% (p < 0.05) respectively. Twenty-two percent of ASS variance was explained by younger age, female gender and higher perceived proximity to missile falling. Conclusions: Older adults reacted to the war situation with lower level of acute stress symptoms. Long-term effects of war on different age groups should be further studied.