Aging Alone in a Continuous Traumatic Situation: External Coping Resources

Exposure to a persistent terrorist threat constitutes a continuous traumatic situation (CTS) that can severely impact one’s mental and physical health. For older adults living in CTS, this risk is compounded by the challenges of aging. This vulnerability is significantly heightened for older adults living alone in CTS, who typically experience increased social isolation and loneliness. Past research has explored internal coping resources that help these individuals deal with their stressful circumstances. Nevertheless, external coping resources have been hardly explored, making it difficult to create policies and practices to support older adults living alone in areas affected by terrorism. To address this lacuna, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 older adults living alone in Sderot, an Israeli city that has been under constant terror attacks for over two decades, and analyzed them using thematic analysis. Four external coping resources were identified: family; friendships; communal resources including a sense of belonging to their community and neighbors; and formal resources provided to them by the municipality and the state, comprising instrumental and emotional support. The findings affirm the significance of external coping resources for older adults facing continuous stress and trauma, suggesting ways to strengthen these resources to boost individuals’ resilience.