Wars and their psychological traumatic effects on Yemeni children as perceived by children and teachers (exploratory study)

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the level of psychological trauma effects resulting from the war on children in Sana'a, as perceived by both the children and the teachers. The sample was selected through simple random sampling, consisting of 132 students and 103 teachers from the ninth grade, distributed across seven middle schools located near conflict zones. The study adopted a descriptive-analytical approach to achieve its objectives. A scale was developed to measure the psychological trauma effects. The results revealed that children were exposed to psychological trauma during the war, and the traumatic impact was high across all items of the scale and the total score. No significant differences were found between the children’s and teachers’ assessments of the psychological impact of the war. Both children and teachers agreed on the most severe symptoms, including: wishing the event had not occurred, anxiety, tension, fear, disrupted social relationships, lack of concentration and attention, and academic regression. The results also showed significant differences according to gender, with symptoms being more severe among males. In light of these findings, the study provided a number of recommendations to support children psychologically and educationally under the difficult conditions they are experiencing.