Multigenerational reactions to situations of ongoing stress: Children’s and parents’ perspectives on facing a prolonged period of missile attacks

Abstract

The current study compares the reactions of kindergarten children with that of parents, after exposure to ongoing missile attacks. The goal of the study was to understand the perspectives of two different generations in the context of prolonged stress. Semi structured interviews were conducted among 150 kindergarten children of ages 4-6 and among 40 parents (of other children), ranging in age from 21- to 45-years-old. All of the participants were Israelis living within a 40 km distance from Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. A comparison of findings from the two groups interviews revealed that parents manifested the fear regarding the unknown and their inability to function and losing control, whereas the children, manifested fear as uncomfortable physical sensations. Parents manifested a cerebral and emotional form of coping in their attempts to justify their choice to reside in this region while children's perspective, coping took the form of the typically childlike occupation of play. Finally, the shared multigenerational perception of the parent’s role is to provide physical protection for the child.Results demonstrate the need for greater acknowledgement of parent-child informed interventions that could give both generations a tailored care to reduce the trauma impact experienced by parents and children.

Keywords:

• Kindergarten children
• parenting
• continuous stress
• trauma