Acute Stress Disorder among Tunisian Population in the Palestine-Israel War

TL;DR

This study found that most Tunisians following the Palestine-Israel war via social media experienced acute stress disorder, with women and those with prior mental health issues being most affected.

Contribution

This study is the first to assess acute stress disorder in the Tunisian population related to the Palestine-Israel war using the NSESSS scale.

Findings

83.4% of participants met criteria for acute stress disorder based on the NSESSS scale.

Female sex, divorce status, and prior psychiatric history were significantly associated with higher stress disorder scores.

Social media was the primary source of war-related information for 98.6% of participants.

Abstract

The Gaza-Israel conflict has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the immediate geographic confines of the conflict zone.This war certainly has repercussions on people who follow it via the media.

To study the prevalence of acute stress disorder among Tunisian people and determinate the factors associated to it.

It was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, conducted among Tunisians. Data were collected during October and November 2023, through an anonymous online questionnaire, spread throughout social media (Facebook/Instagram), using the Google Forms® platform.

We used the the National stressful Events survey acute Stress Disorder Short scale (NSESSS) to assess the severity symptoms of acute stress disorder .

The National Stressful Events Survey Acute Stress Disorder Short Scale (NSESSS) is a 7-item patient assessment measures that assesses the severity symptoms of acute stress disorder in individuals age 18 and older following an extremely stressful event or experience.

A total of 1091 participants completed the questionnaire. The participants had a mean age of 32.7 ± 9.8 years. More females (77.7%) than males (22.3%) participated in the study with a sex ratio (F/M) = 3.5. They were divorced in 2.1% .A history of psychiatric follow-up was found in 19,5% of case.

Results demonstrated that 100% of the respondents closely monitored the war, primarily relying on social media (98.6%) as their primary source of information.

According to the NSESSS ,83.4% of the participants had an acute stress disorder. The breakdown of acute stress disorder severity indicated that 29.7% experienced mild symptoms, 27.5% moderate, 21.6% severe, and 4.6% extreme symptoms.

The factors associated with high score of NSESSS were: female sex ( p=0.000), the divorced people (p=0.001)and previous history of psychiatric follow-up (p=0.000)

These findings indicate a substantial impact of the Palestine-Israel conflict on the mental well-being of the Tunisian population, as evidenced by high rates of acute stress disorder.

Understanding the heightened prevalence of acute stress disorder among different demographic groups following such international conflicts is crucial for developing tailored interventions to support the mental health and well-being of affected individuals.

None Declared