Skip to main content

March of the Living, a Holocaust Educational Tour: An Assessment of Anxiety and Depression

Journal of Religion and Health volume 55, pages 1000–1009 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

March of the Living (MOTL) is a 2-week international educational tour for high school seniors to learn about the Holocaust by visiting concentration/deaths camps and other Jewish historical sites in Poland, culminating in a week-long excursion in Israel. Although the trip is primarily educational, there is recent research evidence to suggest that attendees may suffer from a variety of mental health sequelae. To determine symptoms of anxiety and depression, 196 Los Angeles delegation participants voluntarily completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, composed of a trait anxiety scale (i.e., STAI-T) and a state anxiety scale (i.e., STAI-S), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Pre-MOTL, students completed an initial background questionnaire along with the STAI-T, STAI-S, and the CES-D. At end-Poland and end-Israel, the STAI-S and CES-D were administered again. Results demonstrated that depression scores increased during end-Poland and returned to baseline; however, anxiety scores mildly increased end-Poland and rose slightly more and persisted through end-Israel.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Cohen, E. H. (2011). Travel as a Jewish educational tool. In H. Miller, L. D. Grant, & A. Pomson (Eds.), International handbook of Jewish education (pp. 615–632). New York, NY: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • de Anda, D., Baroni, S., Boskin, L., Buchwald, L., Morgan, J., Ow, J., et al. (2000). Stress, stressors and coping among high school students. Children and Youth Services Review, 22(6), 441–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downey, R. G., & King, C. V. (1998). Missing data in Likert ratings: a comparison of replacement methods. Journal of General Psychology, 125(2), 175–191.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franck, I. (1964). Teaching the tragic events of Jewish history. Journal of Jewish Education, 34(3), 173–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gudykunst, W., & Hammer, M. (1988). Strangers and hosts: an uncertainty reduction base theory of intercultural adaptation. In Y. Kim & W. Gudykunst (Eds.), Cross-cultural adaptation: current approaches (pp. 106–139). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mimouni-Bloch, A., Walter, G., Ross, S., & Bloch, Y. (2013). The mental health consequences of student Holocaust memorial journeys. Australas Psychiatry, 21(4), 326–328.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nager, A. L., Nager, S. M., Lalani, P. G., & Gold, J. I. (2011). Holocaust student tour: The impact on spirituality and health. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 48, 186–194.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nager, A. L., Pham, P., & Gold, J. I. (2013). March of the Living, a Holocaust education tour: effect on adolescent Jewish identity. Journal of Religion and Health, 52(4), 1402–1414.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait anxiety inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockings, E., Degenhardt, L., Lee, Y. Y., Mihalopoulos, C., Liu, A., Hobbs, M., & Patton, G. (2015). Symptom screening scales for detecting major depressive disorder in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis of reliability, validity and diagnostic utility. Journal of Affective Disorders, 174, 447–463.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank the Builders of Jewish Education, Monise Neumann (Director of MOTL), the participants, and Lizet Guevara (research assistant) who entered all data.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Division of Emergency and Transport Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, 4650 Sunset Blvd., Mailstop #113, Los Angeles, CA, 90027, USA

    Alan L. Nager

  2. Division of Emergency and Transport Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Phung Pham

  3. Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Sarah N. Grajower

  4. Departments of Pediatrics and Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jeffrey I. Gold

Authors
  1. Alan L. Nager
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Phung Pham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sarah N. Grajower
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jeffrey I. Gold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan L. Nager.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nager, A.L., Pham, P., Grajower, S.N. et al. March of the Living, a Holocaust Educational Tour: An Assessment of Anxiety and Depression. J Relig Health 55, 1000–1009 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0150-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0150-2

Keywords

  • Holocaust
  • Jewish education
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • March of the Living
  • High school students
  • Mental health