Intergenerational transmission, attitudes, and post-traumatic stress disorder in times of war: A comparison between elderly people and their adult offspring after the second lebanon war (2006) and casting lead operation (2008)

Background: While the effects of war on individuals, age groups, and communities have been thoroughly studied, there has been relatively little mention in the literature regarding its differential effects on adult children and their elderly parents and grandparents. Methods: Three hundred thirty-eight participants (167 elderly parents and 171 adult offspring) living in the northern and southern regions of Israel, were interviewed after the Second Lebanon War (2006) and the Casting Lead Operation (2008). (A military operation took place at the Israeli southern border as a reaction to the 7 years of missiles bombing from the Gaza strip to the Israeli civilians.) The participants were sampled by a cluster sampling. Findings: Elderly population experiences higher levels of PTSD symptoms than their adult children do. Women experience higher levels of PTSD symptoms than men and Israeli Arabs and Druze more than Israeli Jews. Conclusions: A policy should be enacted among the local authorities and the governmental offices that would ensure accessibility to and the ability to provide proper care for the elderly population during times of war or terror events. In addition, it is important to setup local teams in every local community to deal with the level of mental and emotional preparedness of the home front and its inhabitants, in case the latter should again become part of the human casualties of the wars and terrorist events that occur in Israel.