The Impact of the Peace Treaty on Psychological
Well-Being: A Follow-UP Study of Palestinian Children" (Samir Qouta,
Raija Leena Punamaki, and Eyad El-Sarraj)
This research
examined the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty and Palestinian
children's perception of it on their self-esteem and neuroticism. We also
studied the relative importance of earlier exposure to traumatic experiences
and psycho social resources indicated by the children's creativity, intelligence
and political activity in influencing their psychological well-being after
the peace treaty. The sample used was a follow-up group of 64 Palestinian
children of 11-12 years of age, living in the Gaza Strip. The result showed
that the level of neuroticism was significantly related to high neuroticism
and low self-esteem after the peace treaty. Acceptance of the treaty and
participating in the subsequent festivities mitigated the negative impact
of the traumatic experiences on their well-being . Increased neuroticism
and decreased self-esteem were found only among children who refused to
accept the peace treaty and did not participate in the festivities. Creativity
and Intifada activity promoted their post-peace treaty well-being, in terms
of psycho social resources. The more creative the children were the more
their neurotic symptoms decreased because of the treaty and the higher
self-esteem they had after it. The more active the children were during
the Intifada the more their self-esteem increased because of the treaty.
