Adjustment to War Captivity: The Role of Sociodemographic Background, Trauma Severity, and Immediate Responses, in the Long-Term Mental Health of Israeli Ex-Pows

Abstract

This study assessed the role of sociodemographic features, pre-captivity combat exposure, captivity severity, emotional responses and coping during captivity, and social support at homecoming, to the short- and long-term mental health of 164 Israeli POWs of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The major contributors to the POWs' mental health were psychological responses during captivity, followed first by their education and ethnic status, and then by severity of captivity. Both traumatic stress of captivity and the results of the study were discussed in the light of Conservation of Resources (COR) theory.

Keywords::

• Stress
• Prisoners of war (POWs)
• Adjustment
• Sociodemographic background
• Immediate responses
• COR theory