After Israel was hit with a deadly surprise attack by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, some 360,000 reservists rushed to their units — often leaving comfortable lives and families behind — in a show of selfless patriotism. A year later, the price for that patriotism — especially that shouldered by the spouses and children of reservists — is beginning to come into sharp view.

A new study by the Taub Center for Social Policy in Israel found that parents whose partners were serving in the reserves suffered higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress than parents whose partners did not serve. And it found that children of reservists were more likely to experience more severe emotional and behavioral regressions compared to children of non-reservist parents and exhibit more behavior such as bedwetting, temper tantrums or fear of sudden noises.

“It’s very clear that there are differences between parents whose partner was serving in the reserves and those who weren’t, such that those whose partner is in reserves score higher on [the emotional stress index]. In other words, they are more likely to have depression, anxiety and stress,” professor Yossi Shavit of the Taub Center’s Initiative for Research on Early Childhood Development and Inequality told eJewishPhilanthropy.

The study also found that increased stress, anxiety and depression persist for families displaced by Oct. 7 and for Arab parents of young children.

The study’s data were collected in two waves examining the emotional, behavioral, and developmental state of young children, as well as the emotional state of their parents during this time through survey questions answered by the parents. The first wave took place in January 2024 and included 1,199 Jewish parents, either a mother or a father. The second wave was in July 2024 and included 804, or 67% of the first wave of Jewish parents, and 151 Arab parents. In total, 1,350 parents of young children responded to the survey.

The survey focused on two phenomena unique to wartime: the military reserve service of one parent and the displacement of families from their homes, he said, asking parents questions on the emotional state of their youngest child. It also examined differences in levels of emotional distress between Jewish and Arab parents in the second wave.

The survey found higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress among parents whose partners were serving in the reserves compared to those whose partners were not, with an average of 19.9%of reserve partners reporting some of the symptoms compared to 16.4% percent of those whose partners were not, according to the report. In addition, the data showed that children of reservists were more likely to experience more severe emotional and behavioral regressions compared to children of non-reservist parents and exhibit more behavior such as bedwetting, temper tantrums or fear of sudden noises. 

While there were some improvements in the behavior reported between the waves, emotional regression in children with a parent in the reserves decreased by 5.6% while the regression among children whose parents were not in the reserves decreased by 7%.

“It’s very clear that there are differences between parents whose partner was serving in the reserves and those who weren’t, such that those whose partner is in reserves score higher on [the emotional stress index]. In other words, they are more likely to have depression, anxiety and stress,” said Shavit.

In addition to Shavit, the research was conducted by Dana Shay, Carmel Blank and Yael Navon from the Taub Center, with support from the Bracha Foundation, the Bernard Van Leer Foundation and Yad Hanadiv.  

Although the second survey in July showed a significant decrease in the emotional distress index of parents of both groups, the index of those who had a partner in the reserves remained higher, according to the researchers.

“This decrease points to an overall improvement in emotional well-being over time. However, the emotional state of parents whose partners served in the reserves remained more challenging than those whose partners did not serve,” they said in their report.

“We repeated this whole exercise again, or almost the whole exercise, by comparing parental functions of those who were evacuated from their homes due to the war, to those who were not evacuated,” Shavit said. “Being evacuated is very stressful, as the data show, and again, the same story, with the level of stress, anxiety and depression that is attenuated somewhat in the (second wave of the survey), but still the difference between the evacuated and non evacuated remains, and it remains significant and it doesn’t wash out.”

Though these are “textbook results” and came as little surprise to the researchers, said Shavit, they were intrigued by the data they found regarding Arab parents, which, contrary to expectations, indicated that Arab parents in Israel are in a much worse state than Jewish parents, with their average anxiety level on the emotional distress index at 6.2% as compared to 4.2% for the Jewish parents, he said.

“Arabs are much more anxious than Jews, and it’s statistically very significant,” he said, noting that though there was a gap for the other measurements of depression and stress it was not as large.

Though the causes of distress may stem from non-war related factors such as the increasing violence in the Arab population or fluctuations in employment rates, the fact remains that “Arab parents of young children in Israel are currently suffering from significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety and stress relative to their Jewish parent-peers,” the researchers wrote.

“The report shows that the difficulties faced by young children and their parents are still present, even a year after the war began. These effects likely continue to impact the family even after reserve service ends, emphasizing the need for intervention and support programs for these families immediately. The support must also include educational and caregiving staff in childcare settings, providing them with tools and training to cope with the children’s heightened difficulties. It is also crucial to address the challenges of Arab parents and offer them appropriate solutions,” said Blank, in the release about the report.

A report with more in-depth analysis of the data will be by published in the Taub Center’s annual State of the Nation Report around the end of the year and the researchers are hoping for at least one more survey wave involving a questionnaire on data of other siblings from birth to age 6 in the family, dependent on whether they can get funding, said Shavit.

In the meantime the researchers recommended expanding targeted support for the vulnerable populations they pointed out by strengthening support systems for the families of reservists, including ongoing psychological assistance, providing emotional support to displaced families where they are staying and developing culturally adapted support programs for the Arab population.

“The evacuees are well-attended-to by the state social services in hotels. and the data are consistent with the need for these services and speak in favor of doing that,” said Shavit. “There is less support for families of reservists. The reservists get considerable support, but not the families, not the kids or the spouses. And clearly the data indicate that we should devote resources to supporting these families, not just the reservists themselves…so that the kids and the spouses don’t pay the added penalty above and beyond being left alone for months on end. We don’t want the reserve duty to have a detrimental effect on kids forever. With respect to the Arab-Jewish comparison we don’t know what to make of it yet. We’ll work on it.”

Still, he said, judging by the experience of other traumatic experiences worldwide, Israel can expect the emotional price of the war “to persist for a long time.”