High school students' posttraumatic symptoms, substance abuse and involvement in violence in the aftermath of war

► This study investigated risk behavior of a large representative sample of Israeli Jewish and Arab adolescents in the aftermath of war. ► Arab students were more vulnerable to stress than Jewish students, thus supporting the stress sensitization model. ► Arab students reported more posttraumatic stress symptoms and risk behaviors. ► Despite Arab students' vulnerability, exposure to war events had similar effects on both Arab and Jewish students.