Living under fire: longitudinal insights into civilian coping and recovery during armed conflict.

This longitudinal study examines the psychological impact of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war on Jewish Israeli civilians, focusing on changes in mental health, social support, and institutional trust over time. Data were collected at two time points: one month after the outbreak of war (T1; November 2023) and approximately 16 months later (T2; March 2025). Participants (N=409 at T1; N=293 at T2) completed validated measures of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social support, trust, and emotion regulation. Results indicate a significant decrease in anxiety and PTSD symptoms over time alongside increased social support and emotion regulation abilities. However, trust in public institutions declined markedly. Sociodemographic factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, and religiosity significantly shaped coping styles. These findings support the framework of continuous traumatic stress, highlighting how individuals in chronic conflict situations exhibit different recovery patterns than those in one-time trauma events. Implications include the need for group-based and community-centered interventions, targeted outreach to high-risk and high-avoidance populations and efforts to restore institutional trust to promote long-term resilience.