The comfort of nostalgia in wartime: nostalgia as a vehicle to combat post-traumatic stress symptoms among civilian evacuees displaced by war

The recent Israel-Hamas and Israel-Hezbollah wars have contributed to heightened post-traumatic symptoms among Israeli civilians forced to evacuate their homes. In a proof-of-concept experiment involving 195 Israeli Jewish evacuees, we examined whether nostalgia could serve as a psychological resource for alleviating post-traumatic stress symptoms. Participants in the experimental group were asked to reflect on a nostalgic event in their life that occurred before October 7th, 2023, the onset of the war, while those in the control group reflected on an ordinary life event. The results showed that nostalgia led to a decrease in post-traumatic stress symptoms and negative affect, while increasing optimism. Additionally, the reduction in post-traumatic symptoms due to nostalgia induction was partially mediated by negative affect and fully mediated by optimism. These findings suggest that nostalgia may offer potential as an intervention to buffer against trauma’s psychological impact.