Resilience among a large sample of adult Palestinians in the Gaza Strip: examining contextual sociodemographic factors and emotional response through a social-ecological lens.

OBJECTIVES: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continue to cope with persistent violations of their social, economic, political, and civil rights. This study sought to measure resilience among adult Palestinians and its relation to contextual factors (sociodemographic variables) and emotional response using a social-ecological framework. STUDY DESIGN: Community-based, cross-sectional. METHODS: Involving 1068 households in the Gaza Strip, individuals (aged ≥18 years) completed (a) a questionnaire on demographics and social construct, (b) 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Cronbach alpha = .91), and (c) Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) (Cronbach alpha = .89). Bivariate analysis, Pearson correlations, and step-wise multiple regression were conducted. RESULTS: Gazans scored significantly lower resilience compared to the normative mean in the general population (mean score = 75.9 vs. 80.4). Bivariate analysis revealed that being employed and highly educated were associated with higher resilience scores. Likewise, participants showed statistically lower positive affects (PA) (mean = 33.49, standard deviation [SD] = 7.5: 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.39-1.23, P < 0.00) and higher negative affects (NA) (mean = 22.3, SD = 7.0; 95% CI 3.68-4.73, P < 0.001) compared to normative means. Resilience scores were positively correlated with PA (r = .40, P < 0.001), with much weaker negative correlation with NA (r = -.10, P < 0.001). Only PA and NA were significant predictors of resilience (r2 = 16%); PA recorded a positive and higher beta value (beta = .38, P < 0.001) than NA (beta = -.089, P = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Sumud, the Palestinian notion of resilience, is an interactive process that depends on individual assets and contextual resources. Given the political turmoil and high levels of poverty, the employment opportunities must be addressed for this highly educated population to preserve resilience. Providing accessible mental health and social support services is critical.

Second-hand smoke and indoor air quality in public places in Gaza City.

Second-hand smoke is a major cause of preventable disease and death in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. To assess how second-hand smoke impacts air quality, respirable suspended particles (PM2.5) which are emitted during cigarette and waterpipe smoking, were measured inside and outside of 18 smoking and 5 nonsmoking public venues in Gaza city. Median PM2.5 level inside the smoking venues was 117 microg/m3, which exceeds the WHO guidelines for daily PM2.5 exposure (25 microg/m3) by more than 4-fold. The median level inside the smoking venues (117 microg/m3) was significantly higher than outside the venues (43 microg/m3), and significantly higher than the median level inside non-smoking venues (40 microg/m3). By contrast particulate levels outside non-smoking venues (35 microg/m3) did not differ from the corresponding levels inside (40 microg/m3). To protect employees and the public from second-hand smoke exposure, policies prohibiting sinoking in public niaces are needed in Gaza city.

Second-hand smoke and indoor air quality in public places in Gaza city

Second-hand smoke is a major cause of preventable disease and death in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. To assess how second-hand smoke impacts air quality, respirable suspended particles [PM[2.5]], which are emitted during cigarette and waterpipe smoking, were measured inside and outside of 18 smoking and 5 nonsmoking public venues in Gaza city. Median PM[2.5] level inside the smoking venues was 117 microg/m[3], which exceeds the WHO guidelines for daily PM[2.5] exposure [25 microg/m[3]] by more than 4-fold. The median level inside the smoking venues [117 microg/m[3]] was significantly higher than outside the venues [43 microg/m[3]], and significantly higher than the median level inside non-smoking venues [40 microg/m[3]]. By contrast, particulate levels outside non-smoking venues [35 microg/m[3]] did not differ from the corresponding levels inside [40 microg/m[3]]. To protect employees and the public from second-hand smoke exposure, policies prohibiting smoking in public places are needed in Gaza city