Coping Styles and Aggregate Coping Styles: Responses of Older Adults to a Continuous Traumatic Situation

Abstract

The current study examined the coping styles of older adults in a continuous traumatic situation. We explored subjective descriptions of coping behavior during wartime among three focus groups with 43 participants. The findings suggest that, when older adults face threat situations, they use a variety of coping styles simultaneously. Most of the participants used a combination of two coping styles. The use of multiple styles and the absence of a single dominant one are indicative of the flexibility of self in old age, and point to the potential of older persons as an important resource for the community and society at times of threat.

Keywords:

• Continuous traumatic situation
• coping style
• older adults
• trauma
• war

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Irit Regev

Dr. Irit Regev (PhD, MSW). Dr. Regev is a lecturer at the Department of Social Work at Sapir Academic College. Dr. Regev established and manages the Tzmatim Institute–Consultation for the Aged Population and Their Families. Her work includes consultation and short-term interventions with individuals, families, and groups. Dr. Regev`s work focuses on understanding and consulting multigenerational families during transitions and loss. Her main research interest is in the area of intergenerational relations in later life and the implications of traumatic events on older adults and the family. Present research is a study on “The Psychosocial Effects of Exposure to Acts of Terror on Elderly People.”

Orit Nuttman-Shwartz

Orit Nuttman-Shwartz (PhD, MSW, and GA). For over two decades, Dr. Nuttman-Shwartz has been conducting research on various topics related to personal and social trauma, particularly trauma resulting from continuous exposure to missile attacks. These studies have been conducted among various age groups including aging populations and in different types of communities. In addition, Dr. Nuttman-Shwartz has examined the implications of traumatic events for providers of assistance and for organizational and educational systems (e.g., research on exposure of students, researchers, therapists, clients, and family members to shared traumatic reality). These studies have yielded 70 academic publications in leading international and local journals and in book chapters, which reflect her professional contribution. Since 2011 she has also served as the chairperson of the Israeli National Council for Social Work. In 2014, she was awarded the Katan Prize for Academic Scholarship in Social Work, and in 2016 she received an award of distinction for her groundbreaking efforts to integrate academic work and work with needy communities.