Death Anxiety and Post-Traumatic Symptomatology in Older Adults Living Under Terror Threat: The Moderating Role of Resilience

Post-traumatic symptomatology (PTS) in older adults is associated with reduced psychological well-being. Based on the Anxiety Buffer Disruption Theory (ABDT), we examined the death anxiety-PTS association, as well as the moderating role of resilience on this association in older adults living in southern Israel who had been exposed to continuous missile threats/attacks before the onset of the 2023 Israel-Hamas War. 205 older Israeli adults (M = 73.97, <i>SD</i> = 6.49) who live near the Gaza strip completed a questionnaire regarding these variables. Lower resilience and higher death anxiety were associated with increased PTS. There was also a moderating effect of resilience on the death anxiety-PTS link, as this link was significant for individuals reporting high/median levels of resilience, but was nullified for those reporting low resilience levels. Our findings suggest that resilience is a crucial factor for older adults experiencing constant terror threat, and are discussed in light of ABDT.