Alone in the Shadow of Terror: Strategies and Internal Resources of Older Adults Living Alone in a Continuous Traumatic Situation

Continuous traumatic situations (CTS) caused by prolonged exposure to terrorist threat can harm individuals’ mental and physical health. For older adults living alone in CTS, this risk joins the challenges of aging and loneliness, creating a triple vulnerability. No previous research has explored this particular vulnerability and specifically addressed the coping strategies and internal resources used by older adults to manage these stressful circumstances. The present study aimed to fill this lacuna, by exploring how older adults living alone in CTS cope with these challenges and the internal resources that help them do so. Indepth interviews with 15 persons aged 65+ years living alone in Sderot, an Israeli city exposed to a continuous terror threat, were conducted and analyzed thematically. Participants described various coping strategies. Some are deployed at the psychological level: positive thinking, deliberate disengagement, perception of being alone as an advantage, and social comparison; others have behavioral implications: acknowledging reality and dealing with it and “turning it into an engine.” Participants also identified four internal resources that helped them cope: functional independence, faith, character traits, and previous experience with stressful life events. Participants coped with the difficulties of living alone in CTS actively and creatively, relying on various psychological and functional resources. The findings support theories that emphasize older adults’ resilience and ability to cope with stress and trauma, suggesting ways to strengthen the resilience of older adults facing CTS, particularly those living alone.