Research on the cumulative effects of traumatic events in old age has yielded inconclusive findings; some studies stress resilience, while others highlight vulnerability. To enhance the understanding of what it means to be exposed to cumulative trauma in later life, this phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of older Israelis living in a continuous traumatic situation due to constant terror threats during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventeen in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with older Israeli Jews living near Israel’s border with Gaza and analyzed according to Braun and Clarke’s (2012) thematic analysis. The participants described similarities and differences between the two traumatic situations and were divided by their relative difficulty. Participants were divided into three groups regarding the perceived connection between living under ongoing security threats and dealing with COVID-19. Some felt that having coped for so many years with terror threats helped them cope with COVID-19. Others thought the continuous dealing with the security situation made it difficult to cope with COVID-19. Finally, a few participants believed that the two adversities were unrelated. Based on the various ways in which our participants described the characteristics, relative difficulty, and cumulative effects of the two traumas, we suggest conceptualizing cumulative trauma as a three-way trajectory model: negative cumulative, which increases stress; positive cumulative, which enhances resilience; and unrelated, in terms of cumulative trauma-related effects. The study calls for implementing suitable policies and practices considering these various pathways between resilience and vulnerability.

Authors:
Gabriela Spector-Mersel, Sapir College, Israel
Orit Nuttman-Shwartz, Sapir College, Israel

About the Presenter(s)
Gabriela Spector-Mersel, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Work at Sapir College, Israel. She is also the chairperson of the interest group in Qualitative Research and advisor of the Narrative Research groups at Mofet Institute.

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gabriela-Spector-Mersel

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