Daily stressors are associated with mental illness because they are more proximal than combat-related related traumas, they are mainly out of the individuals control,  and daily stressors are more ubiquitous among conflict-affected populations.

Review paper: Miller and Rasmussen. Social Science and Medicine, 2010; 70: 7-16.

al-Krenawi, A., Lev-Wiesel, R., & Sehwail, M. (2007). Psychological symptomatology among Palestinian children living with political violence. Child and Adolescent

Mental Health, 12, 27–31.

A study of Palestinian youth  found that family violence, including spousal violence, found that violence between siblings, parental violence towards children were a better predictor of children’s mental health compared to exposure to political violence. (al-Krenawi, 2007)

Farhood, L., Zurayk, H., Chaya, M., Saadeh, F., Meshefedjian, G., & Sedani, T. (1993). The impact of war on the physical and mental health of the family: the Lebanese experience. Social Science & Medicine, 36, 1555–1567.

A second study found that, combat-related civilian stressors (economic hardship, breakdown in community services difficulty maintaining contact with family and friends) were better predictors of distress compared to the threat of war-related violence. (Farhood, 1993)