Mental health knowledge production on Palestinians: a historical and analytical study (1948-2024).

Abstract

Research on Palestinian mental health has expanded substantially over recent decades. However, limited attention has been paid to how this body of knowledge has been historically produced. Knowledge production is not neutral but rather shaped by broader global political dynamics that influence how research is framed, prioritized, funded, and legitimized. In contexts shaped by intractable conflict and structural inequality, examining knowledge production is essential to understanding how mental health is framed. This study offers a narrative-historical examination of academic knowledge on Palestinian mental health from 1948 to 2024, situating it within broader discussions in global health. Using a narrative review approach, 193 publications indexed in PsycINFO were analyzed across three periods and three population groups: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Israel. An eight-dimensional analytical framework is applied: discourse, psychological concepts, theoretical frameworks, methodologies, producing institutions, political positioning, population subgroups, and research objectives. The findings show that despite substantial growth in research output, the field remains largely grounded in individualized, clinical, and Western psychological frameworks. Across periods, psychological distress is primarily conceptualized through constructs such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression, with limited adaptation to the Palestinian cultural context. Political and colonial conditions are frequently treated as background context rather than analytically integrated components of explanatory models. Finally, knowledge production is shaped by the involvement of international actors and broader academic structures, with limited local epistemic leadership. These findings highlight the need for greater attention to the conditions under which mental health knowledge is produced. Contextually grounded and structurally informed approaches are required. Finally, these local findings suggest the need to examine how health knowledge is shaped within unequal global structures and apply context-sensitive approaches to mental health research.