Acute Stress Disorder in Israeli Civilians in Reaction to the 7 October War

Abstract

To assess levels of acute stress symptoms (ASS) and prevalence of acute stress disorder (ASD) in an Israeli civilian sample and examine sociodemographic and war exposure predictors of ASS and ASD. A telephone survey was conducted in the fourth week of the 7 October war with a random sample of 199 Jewish and 194 Arab adult residents from areas of lower Galilee and Acre, Herzliya, and Eilat. ASS and ASD were measured by the Acute Stress Disorder Interview. War exposure and sociodemographic data were collected. 60% of participants met the criteria for ASD. Levels of ASS were relatively high. 21% of the variance in total ASS score was explained by sociodemographic (sex, age, education, ethnicity) and war exposure variables (acquaintance injured, killed, or kidnapped; subjective sense of danger to self or relatives; property or income damage). The present study revealed significant although mild associations of ASS with war exposure variables (acquaintance injured, killed, or kidnapped; subjective sense of danger to self or relatives; property or home damage; and employment or income damage). Logistic regression indicated that women were 1.55 times more likely to have ASD than men. Arabs were 2.02 times more likely to have ASD than Jews. The present study stresses the need to construct an acute stress screening procedure to identify individuals with severe acute stress reactions. We call attention to the need to build interventions to reduce these symptoms immediately during warfare to prevent them from developing into chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Strengthening community resilience may reduce the rate of ASS upon exposure to war.

Keywords: acute stress disorder; acute stress symptoms; exposure; war.

FIGURE 1

Mean scores of ASS by group and overall. ASS = acute stress symptoms.