Psychological distress among Israeli civilians following the October 7, 2023, attack and the subsequent war: the role of exposure and personal resilience

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and ensuing war, Israeli civilians faced traumatic stressors. We examined depression, anxiety, and stress combined, secondary traumatic stress, and resilience as a moderator of war-exposure effects. During the acute conflict, 613 Jewish and Arab Israelis completed an online survey assessing distress, resilience, and multidimensional exposure. Adjusted regressions and moderation analyses were conducted. Exposure predicted both outcomes only in adjusted models. Resilience was inversely associated with distress and moderated exposure-distress relationships. Jewish participants reported greater exposure, but distress did not differ by ethnicity. Resilience may protect against war-related distress.