Political violence exposure and youth aggression in the context of the social ecological systems and family stress models: A four-wave prospective study of Israeli and Palestinian youth

Based on the social ecological systems framework and the family stress model, we examine a model in which the family’s exposure to ethnic-political violence in the Middle East predicts negative family functioning, which in turn predicts subsequent harsh physical punishment toward one’s children, and in turn, children’s aggression by late adolescence/early adulthood. Beginning in 2007, we collected four waves of data from Israeli Jewish (N = 451 at Wave 1) and Palestinian (N = 600 at Wave 1) youths (three age cohorts: 8, 11, and 14 years old) and their parents. We found that exposure to ethnic-political violence increases harsh parenting and, subsequently, child aggression, via processes emanating from the family context (interparental aggression) in line with theorizing from the family stress and ecological systems frameworks. These results highlight the usefulness of applying the family stress model to families exposed to ethnic-political violence and the need for multilevel interventions for these families.