Protective Factors in the Face of Political Violence: The Role of Caregiver Resilience and Parenting Styles in Palestine

摘要

As Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank experience a variety of traumatic events, research identifying protective factors of children's mental health is essential. This study examined caregiver resilience and parenting styles as protective factors of the mental health of Palestinian children living in the West Bank. We hypothesized that: (a) higher caregiver resilience would be significantly associated with better mental health in children (caregiver reported), (b) authoritative parenting would be significantly associated with better mental health in children, and (c) both permissive and authoritarian parenting would be significantly associated with poorer mental health in children. Participants were 303 caregivers of primary schoolchildren in the city of Nablus, Palestine. Caregivers completed measures of demographics, exposure to violence, parenting styles, and mental health of their children. Results revealed that higher caregiver resilience was significantly associated with caregiver reports of better mental health in children. Both permissive and authoritarian parenting styles were significantly associated with reports of poorer mental health in children. The association between authoritative parenting style and children's mental health was nonsignificant. Implications of these findings include adopting a multilevel approach to designing interventions through integrating the family in future preventative interventions for children. This entails designing interventions to enhance resilience of caregivers and organizing psychoeducational programs to promote effective parenting practices.