Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Psychological Security among a Sample of Families of Coronavirus Victims in the Gaza Strip

Abstract

The study aimed to demonstrate a relationship between the trauma level of loss and the level of psychological security in a sample of the coronavirus pandemic victims’ families in the Gaza Strip. To achieve the objectives of this study, a random sample was chosen from the families of coronavirus victims in the Gaza Strip, which reached a number of (150) people, to whom the study applied the Maslow scale for feeling of psychological security, the post-traumatic stress scale, standard deviation, a T-test for two independent samples, and an ANOVA test. The study reached several results that state the following: Trauma level of loss among the families of coronavirus victims in the Gaza Strip reached 80.6%; the emotional symptoms of post-traumatic stress ranked first, at a rate of 82.8%, followed by cognitive symptoms of post-traumatic stress, at a rate of 81.1%, and in the last place came the behavioral symptoms of post-traumatic stress, at a rate of 77.8%; in addition, the families of coronavirus victims in the Gaza Strip proved to have had a high level of psychological security, the rate of which reached 72%, and the results showed that there was no relationship between the level of post-traumatic stress and the level of psychological security among the sample members, as well as the absence of statistically significant differences among the sample members in the level of loss shock and psychological security due to the following variables: (age, kinship, educational level, and gender). The researchers recommended intensifying mental health support programs for families of victims of coronavirus.