Assessment of parental nurturing and associated social, economic, and political factors among children in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territory (WB/oPt).

BACKGROUND: Parental nurturing expressed through love and affection is a broad concept that entails caring for children and their activities, encouraging them and praising their achievements. Lack of love and affection makes children more susceptible to psychological problems such as stress, anxiety and depression across their life time. This study aims to evaluate parental nurturing and associated social, economic, and political factors among Palestinian children living in the West Bank (WB). METHODS: Secondary data representative of the Palestinian children living in the WB was used to estimate parental nurturing for children aged 0-12 years as reported by their mothers. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted, followed by multivariate analysis for all predictors found significant in the bivariate analysis using SPSS® version 20. RESULTS: 19.90% (231/1162) of children experienced low levels of parental nurturing. No statistically significant differences were detected by the child's gender. Children with high levels of parental nurturing were those aged 0-6 years, children who were last in the family index, children with no disability, children exposed to low to medium levels of disciplinary methods, children from urban areas, children living in North WB, and children whose families were not subjected to political violence. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, Palestinian mothers reported high levels of parental nurturing towards their children. However, about one-fifth of Palestinian children are at risk of experiencing low levels of parental nurturing. Efforts should be placed in addressing the health and welfare needs of these high-risk children's groups.

Disability among Palestinian elderly in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt): prevalence and associated factors.

BACKGROUND: Disability poses an important challenge to countries all over the world since it affects more than 15% of the global population. The disability prevalence is higher in developing countries compared to developed ones. Disability has negative consequences on health, wellbeing, and quality of life. The goal of this study is to assess the prevalence of disability and to determine some of its associated factors among Palestinian elderly in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), a country marked by a chronic lack of political, economic, and social stability which affect various aspects of the population's life. METHODS: We used data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) disability survey conducted in 2011 using a nationally representative sample of the Palestinians living in the West Bank (WB) and Gaza Strip (GS). Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire developed and adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Washington Group (WG) for Disability Statistics, adapted to satisfy the Palestinian context. RESULTS: Overall, 31.2% of the Palestinian elderly 60 years and above reported one or more type of disability. Binary logistic regression with disability as the dependent variable showed that older people [OR = 2.88, 95% CI: 2.31-3.60], women [OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.33-2.04], illiterate people [OR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.83-3.06], people reporting small family sizes with 1 to 2 members [OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.34-2.14], people who reported that they were not working at the time of the survey [OR = 4.59, 95% CI: 3.13-6.73], and Palestinian refugees [OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.04-1.42] were more likely to have a disability. However, residents of the Centre of WB were less likely to have disability compared to residents of the GS [OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.37-0.58]. CONCLUSIONS: The study found a high prevalence of disability among Palestinian elderly, as has been reported by the majority of studies performed in developing countries. However, results indicate that demographic and socioeconomic differences among the disabled should be taken into special consideration in setting policies and practices to improve the health and wellbeing of the disabled.

Well-being and associated factors among adults in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) incorporated well-being into its definition of health in 1948. The significance given to this concept is due to its role in the assessment of people's quality of life and health. METHODS: Using the WHO Well-being Index, we estimated well-being among adults and identified selected associated factors in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) using data obtained from the National Time Use Survey conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) 2012-2013 on a representative sample of persons living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted among participants 18 years old and above. Multivariate analysis (Regression) was performed with factors found significant in cross-tabulations, using SPSS® version 20. RESULTS: Overall, 33.8 % (2395) of respondents reported low levels of well-being (ill-being). Neither age, nor sex, nor region were found significant in regression analysis. People who were married, working 15 h or more, with a higher standard of living, who reported participating in community, cultural, and social events, or in religious activities reported high levels of well-being. Those who reported regularly following the mass media, or living in Palestinian refugee camps reported low levels of wellbeing. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, about one-third of adult Palestinians reported low levels of well-being (ill-being), a finding which in itself requires attention. Marriage, employment, high living standards, community participation, and religious activities were found to be protective against ill-being. Further investigations are required to determine additional causes of ill-being in the oPt, taking into consideration the possible effects of chronic exposure to political violence on subjective well-being.