What is it about?
What happens when a new war affects people whose families have already lived through war and displacement? This study looked at the psychological experiences of young Lebanese adults who are second-generation descendants of families affected by the Lebanese Civil War and who were themselves internally displaced during the 2024 war. We explored symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD and complex PTSD, and how these were related to the accumulation of stressful and potentially traumatic experiences.
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Why is it important?
War does not affect people in isolation from their personal and family histories. Our findings showed a significant psychological burden among those displaced, with more than half screening positive for probable anxiety and depression and around four in ten meeting the scoring criteria for probable PTSD or complex PTSD. The more war-related stressors people experienced, the greater their psychological difficulties, particularly symptoms associated with complex PTSD. These findings highlight the importance of looking beyond the immediate event when supporting people affected by war. Their current experiences may interact with earlier family histories of conflict, loss and displacement.
Perspectives
As a psychologist working in Lebanon, this research is also connected to what I see beyond the numbers. Behind every score is a person living through uncertainty, displacement and disruption, while belonging to a family and a society that carry the history of previous wars. For me, one of the important messages of this study is that psychological support in contexts of repeated conflict needs to be trauma-informed, culturally sensitive and attentive to both present experiences and what may have been carried across generations. Understanding this does not mean assuming that trauma is inevitably passed from one generation to another. It means making space for history, context, resilience and individual differences when we try to understand how people respond when war happens again.
Charlotte El-khalil
University of Bucharest
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Psychological outcomes in second-generation descendants of Lebanese civil war internally displaced by the 2024 Israeli war., Traumatology An International Journal, August 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/trm0000674.
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