{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T18:35:09Z","timestamp":1793212509644,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790985600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":2,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790812800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Stress and Health"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    The mass kidnapping of 251 individuals by Hamas on October 7, 2023, created a collective ambiguous loss for Israeli society, marked by prolonged uncertainty over the hostages' fate. While ambiguous loss is typically studied in families, its population\u2010level health associations during continuous armed conflict are unknown. This study provides the first longitudinal evidence of this experience. Israeli adults were surveyed at three (T1;\n                    <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0740), six (T2;\n                    <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0336), and eighteen (T3;\n                    <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0254) months post\u2010kidnapping; a representative subsample (\n                    <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0220) completed all waves. We assessed general psychological distress (DASS), abduction\u2010related separation distress (ALI+\u2013SD), and boundary ambiguity (BAS). Within\u2010subject mixed\u2010effects models indicated significant reductions in DASS and BAS scores from T1 to T2 (\n                    <jats:italic>B<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a01.04 and\n                    <jats:italic>B<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a01.28, respectively;\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    s\u00a0&lt;\u00a00.01), followed by a plateau thereafter. Separation distress declined significantly only at T3 (\n                    <jats:italic>B<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0\u22121.58,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0&lt;\u00a00.01). ALI+\u2013SD and BAS each significantly predicted DASS beyond time effects, with multilevel mediation indicating that ALI+\u2013SD mediated the BAS\u2013DASS association. In the longitudinal sample, ALI+\u2013SD and BAS together explained 44% (T1), 34% (T2), and 41% (T3) of the variance in general distress. The findings suggest that ongoing collective ambiguous loss constitutes a substantial public health concern during war. Unresolved uncertainty surrounding the hostages stalls societal recovery, creating a state of collective limbo and posing a barrier to collective healing. Therefore, ambiguous loss following mass hostage\u2010taking should be considered a widespread societal stressor with consequences extending far beyond directly affected families.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/smi.70225","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T10:05:13Z","timestamp":1791021913000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Collective Ambiguous Loss and Psychological Distress of the Public During War\u2010Related Hostage Crisis: A Three\u2010Wave Longitudinal Study Over 18\u00a0Months"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"42","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9780-3974","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Einat","family":"Yehene","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Behavioral Sciences the Academic College of Tel Aviv\u2010Yaffo  Tel Aviv\u2013Yaffo Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8417-9121","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shay","family":"Ohayon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology Bar\u2010Ilan University  Ramat Gan Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5597-4916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hagai","family":"Levine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine Hadassah Medical Center The Faculty of Medicine Hebrew University of Jerusalem  Jerusalem Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/00258024251349373"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/california\/9780520235946.003.0001"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13031\u2010020\u201000266\u20100"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5455\/msm.2013.25.199\u2010202"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/9781009461719"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1332\/30498414Y2025D000000012"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v067.i01"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/07481187.2018.1480546"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_10_1","volume-title":"Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with the Unresolved","author":"Boss 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