Exposure to threat of war and terror, political attitudes, stress, and life satisfaction among teenagers in Israel

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.