37. Baker, A. The Psychological Impact of the Intifada on Palestinian Children in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip: An Exploratory Study. Amer. J. Orthopsychiatr. 1990; 60, 4: 10 pp.

A stratified random sample of 796 children is studied to assess the mental health of Palestinian children living in the Occupied Territories in 1989. Instruments used in the study are: observed symptom rating scale filled according to the mother's response, Arabized versions of both the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children and the Cooper Smith Self-Esteem Inventory.

Among the common psychological problems discovered are sleep disturbances, fears, depression, disobedience, fighting with and disturbing others. However, the author indicates that "no serious conditions were detected beyond that expected in the general population". One of the main limitations of the study, as indicated by the author, is that no assessment was undertaken before the Intifada broke out, and thus, no comparison could be made between pre- and post-Intifada conditions.