Abstract
This study prospectively examines the longitudinal course of loneliness, social support, and posttraumatic symptoms (PTS) among Israeli war veterans. Two groups of veterans with and without antecedent combat stress reaction (CSR) were assessed at three points of time during a 20-year period. Veterans with CSR reported higher levels of loneliness compared with veterans without CSR. Loneliness remained stable among veterans with CSR but decreased among veterans without CSR. Baseline level of social support predicted the trajectory of change in loneliness. Finally, higher levels of PTS and lower levels of social support were associated with more loneliness among veterans with CSR.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Zahava Solomon
Zahava Solomon is a professor of psychiatric epidemiology and social work at Tel-Aviv University. Prof. Solomon served as head of the Research Branch IDF, the Dean of the Social Work School and of the special programs and the Head of the Adler Research Center. She has published six books and over 350 articles and chapters on psychic trauma.
Moshe Bensimon
Moshe Bensimon is a lecturer in the Department of Criminology at Bar-Ilan University. His fields of interest are criminology, violence, psychic trauma, and music.
Talya Greene
Talya Greene is a researcher at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work at Tel-Aviv University. Her research interests are community mental health; the long-term impact of combat, captivity, and mass trauma; and military deployment.
Danny Horesh
Danny Horesh is a licensed clinical psychologist and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in NYU's Department of Psychiatry. He has published peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on the long-term course of PTSD, as well as on factors related to resilience and vulnerability to traumatic stress.
Tsachi Ein-Dor
Tsachi Ein-Dor is senior lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. His main research interests are social defense theory, attachment theory, and terror management theory.