The development and validation of a Colonial Trauma Scale within the Palestinian context

Objective: Palestinian people have been facing humanitarian disaster and colonial trauma since 1948. This community urgently requires intensive mental health interventions to help individuals effectively cope with ongoing traumatic events. Developing and validating new measures to assess colonial traumatic symptoms in the Palestinian context will help mental health professionals provide therapeutic and supportive services to those who are continually at risk of developing trauma and other psychological disorders. The present study developed and validated a colonial trauma scale within the Palestinian context. Method: Our research involved 912 Palestinian adults: 276 men and 636 women. The majority (88.4%) resided in rural and urban areas, while 11.6% were from internally displaced camps. Results: Findings of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a stable construct of a seven-factor structure of the Palestinian Colonial Trauma Scale: (1) sadness related to colonial trauma, (2) psychological pain related to colonial trauma, (3) unfair treatment, (4) reexperiencing memory, (5) overarousal, (6) avoidance, and (7) powerlessness due to colonial occupation. Convergent validity for the Palestinian Colonial Trauma Scale was conducted by testing the association between the scale and two existing measures: the Palestinian Context-Specific Trauma Scale and the Impact of Event Scale–Revised. Conclusions: Developing and validating new decolonized instruments, which include considerations of historical violence and its lasting effects, are particularly crucial. These tools can enhance the design of both assessments and interventions, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted nature of colonial trauma.