This is according to a new study conducted by Prof. Golan Shahar from the Department of Psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Social support provided by friends protects adolescents from the harmful effect of a suicide attack. This is according to a new study conducted by Prof. Golan Shahar from the Department of Psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in collaboration with Prof. Christopher Henrich from Georgia State University in the USA.
During the study, which was funded by the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, the researchers followed 90 adolescent boys and girls in Dimona before and after the suicide attack that took place on February 4, 2008. As you may remember, one woman was killed and 30 people were injured in the said attack. Two suicide terrorists were involved, who left the Gaza Strip and entered Israel with explosive belts. One of them blew himself up in a mall in the city and the other was shot and killed by a police officer before he could carry out the attack. The organizations Martyrs of Al-Aqsa and the Popular Front took responsibility for that attack.
The researchers found that adolescents who, before the attack, reported low levels of social support from friends, developed depressive reactions following the attack. Conversely, teenagers who, before the attack, reported high levels of social support from friends, reported low levels of depression after the attack. These findings, published yesterday in the journal PEDIATRICS, which is considered the world's leading journal in the field of pediatric medicine, form the basis for the development of innovative intervention and prevention programs for adolescent populations exposed to terrorism.
One response
It is important for anyone who wants to commit suicide to know that if he commits suicide he is ruining his own life.