Authors: Salwa Massad, F. Javier Nieto, Mari Palta, Maureen Smith, Roseanne Clark & Abdel-Aziz Thabet
We present in our 17th edition an article called Mental Health of Children in Palestinian Kindergartens: Resilience and Vulnerability. Over the past three years, we have published various papers concerned with aspects of childhood resilience, beginning with the paper by Dyregov et al, 2002 , and most recently with Angela Veale’s 2010 discussion of the concept of resilience . This paper by Massad and colleagues represents a contribution from the field of mental health, with its examination of the vulnerability and resilience of 350 kindergarten children (aged 3-6 years), living in Palestine.
Vulnerability to mental health problems is evident in both mothers and children living in these exceptionally difficult circumstances. Overall, some 60% of mothers meet criteria for mental health difficulties, while 29% of young children are found to be ‘vulnerable’ – i.e. are classed as having poor mental health. Nonetheless, approximately one third of young children emerge as ‘resilient’ in the face of these extremely stressful living conditions. Positing that different mechanisms may underlie children’s vulnerability and resilience, Massad and colleagues go on to examine what influences the outcomes of these children. While different factors do indeed appear to influence children’s resilience and vulnerability, maternal health appears to play a key role in both, either as a factor contributing to child vulnerability or as a buffer against the effects of adversity on small children. The results, therefore, add to the body of literature suggesting the importance of maternal mental health for children’s well-being in traumatic living conditions. After an examination of contextual influences upon maternal well-being, the authors go on to suggest group-based interventions that focus on increasing maternal well-being and self confidence enabling vulnerable mothers to utilize their capacity to be their children’s ‘best healer’.