Gaza. 2020-25. Changes in psychological distress. Deterioro mental: estudio longitudinal. ENG ESP

ENGLISH

Changes in psychological distress during conflict escalation in an adult population-based cohort in the Gaza Strip (2020–2025): a longitudinal analysis

This study employs a longitudinal design to follow the mental health of adults in the Gaza Strip across three time points, including baseline data collected before the outbreak of the current war in October 2023, up to January 2025. To our knowledge, it is the first population-based study to track individual-level changes in psychological distress in Gaza over multiple years.

Our findings demonstrate a threefold increase in the prevalence of severe distress by 2025 compared to 2020. This temporal perspective adds critical new insight by building on pre-war data to quantify the mental health impact of war, a study design rarely available in Gaza or other war-affected regions.

While our study cannot establish causality, the recent tripling of severe psychological distress evolved from a background of an exceedingly high mental health burden before October 2023. Our findings underscore the relevance of providing long-term psychosocial and mental health services, including strengthening resilience, to prevent long-term consequences for the current and next generations in Gaza and other conflict-affected populations. Future research should examine the long-term mental health trajectories and resilience, including intergenerational impacts.

ESPAÑOL