Demoralization and Social Supports among Holocaust Survivors

Abstract

This study attempted to investigate the opposing effects of degree of traumatization and of contemporary social supports on the demoralization scores of World War II survivors. The respondents were all married, Poland-born respondents living in socially contrasting neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, Israel. Two subgroups were defined, one that had been in Europe during World War II (index cases) and another that was in prestatehood Israel during the same period (comparison cases). All respondents were administered the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview/Demoralization Scale, a short item scale investigating World War II experiences, and the Social Supports Network Inventory. Uni-and multivariate analyses were conducted using means and rates of demoralization as the dependent variable. The results show that demoralization scores were associated positively with dose effect (the more brutal the experience, the higher the scores) and inversely with social supports (the higher the acknowledged presence of contemporary supports, the lower the scores).