The current research examines the psychological impact of continuous mass trauma, specifically the October 7th atrocities and the Israel-Hamas war. In the first project, I investigated how pre- war traits, specifically negative emotionality, empathy, and prosociality predicted distress (anxiety and depression symptoms) in children during the war. Although empathy and prosociality are typically considered to be resilience factors, they may increase distress in the context of continuous trauma, showing the complexity of emotional responses during mass suffering. The second project focuses on distress trajectories over time and their role in predicting PTSD. I propose that PTSD may result from the inability to recover from elevated distress across time. In the third project, I incorporate an evidence-based model to predict PTSD prevalence in the Israeli population following the war. This model, which relies on reviews and meta-analyses of previous research, categorizes the population into six tiers based on different levels and types of traumatic exposure, such as direct exposure to terror, indirect exposure, and soldiers in combat. Relying on literature reviews, I calculated PTSD prevalence estimates for each group, resulting in the estimation that around 500,000 Israelis (5.3% of the population) may develop PTSD due to the events of the war. This research holds significance for understanding the psychological impact of continuous mass trauma, and also has practical implications for public health by helping design mental health interventions and preparing services for the anticipated magnitude of the needs of the population.

Supervisor: Ariel Knafo-Noam