Positive school climate as a resilience factor in armed conflict zones

Objective: Although schools have a meaningful effect on studentsa' lives, their role as a resilience factor for students experiencing ethno-political violence has never been studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the contribution of studentsa' school experience, and the school climate in particular, to studentsa' coping with violence, and specifically its effect on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Method: A cross-sectional telephone questionnaire survey was held with 534 Israeli high school students who live under constant violence as result of an ethno-political conflict in their region. Results: School climate accounted for 36% of the variance in PTSD and 20% of the variance in PTG. School safety and level of school facilities predicted lower levels of both PTSD and PTG. School connectedness and teachera's support were found to make a positive contribution to PTG. Furthermore, the risk for PTSD decreases with increasing school attendance. Girls presented higher PTSD and PTG than boys. Conclusion: A positive school climate is an important resilience factor for explaining studentsa' PTSD and PTG and should be taken into account when designing interventions for students exposed to ethno-political violence.