Research Abstracts
Relationshipsbetween Traumatic
Events, Children's Gender, and Political Activity, and Perceptions of Parenting
Styles" (Raija-Leena Punamaki, Samir Qouta, and Eyad El-Sarraj)
The associations
between traumatic events, children's gender and political activity, and
parenting styles were examined among 108 Palestinians of 11 - 12 years
of age. The results showed that the more the children were exposed to traumatic
events, the more they perceived both their parents as strictly disciplining,
rejecting, and hostile, and their mothers as more negatively evaluating.
The boys perceived both their parents as treating them more negatively
than the girls did. Affectionate parenting, such as intimacy and love,
for its part, was not associated with traumatic events, and did not vary
according to the child's gender or political activity. The gender of the
child affected the association between traumatic events, political activity,
and perceived parenting. Traumatic events increased perceived parental
rejection and hostility only among the boys, and perceived strict disciplining
only among the girls. Although politically active children perceived both
of their parents as more negative in general, in the families exposed to
a high level of traumatic events, passive boys perceived their fathers
as more rejecting and hostile than active boys did. It is suggested that
mothers and fathers rear girls restrictively and with greater attention,
and boys with rejection, when the family faces traumatic events. In exposed
families, fathers also tend to discourage boys' political passivity and
apparently encourage activity.