Sources of Functioning, Symptoms of Trauma, and Psychological Distress: A Cross-Sectional Study With Palestinian Health Workers Operating in West Bank and Gaza Strip

Health-care workers operating in conflict zones are at severe risk of psychological consequences, given their extended exposure to traumatic events under conditions of stress and violence. This quantitative, cross-sectional study was designed to explore the relationships between personal resources (sources of functioning)—operationalized as sense of coherence, posttraumatic growth, and perceived well-being—psychological distress, and trauma symptoms in a specific population of health workers exposed to war and violence. Palestinian health professionals (N = 181) completed quantitative measures of well-being, posttraumatic growth, sense of coherence, psychological distress, and traumatic response. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The outcomes suggest that sources of psychological functioning consistently play a role in the mental health of different types of health professionals. Health-care workers in an environment characterized by instability and ongoing risk need to protect their own mental health by mobilizing sources of resistance and resilience, such as a sense of coherence, subjective well-being, and growth. We discuss the clinical implications of these findings and offer recommendations for training and supervision. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)Public Policy Relevance Statement: Our study found a relationship between personal resources (sources of functioning)—operationalized as sense of coherence, posttraumatic growth, and self-perceived well-being—psychological distress, and trauma symptoms in a population of health-care workers living and operating in areas characterized by chronic war and violence. Despite the ongoing traumatic reality they are exposed to, health-care providers showed good psychological functioning that is made possible by constant sense-making and self-regulation activities that allow mobilization of sources of resistance and resilience. The political nature of Palestinian social suffering and the context and culture-specific factors underpinning functioning strategies such as sense of coherence and posttraumatic growth must be acknowledged to respond to the individual and social needs of indigenous workers engaged in emergency work.