Examined the relationships between exposure to political hardships (PHs), socioeconomic status (SES) and mother's psychological responses, and children's coping modes (CMs) among 66 Palestinian 8-14 yr olds who lived in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The effectiveness of children's CMs in protecting their mental health from the negative impact of PHs was also analyzed. The more Ss were exposed to PHs, the more they employed active and courageous CMs. The more mothers showed psychological symptoms, the more their children used active CMs. The more political activity the mothers used as a CM, the more their children used purposive coping. Exposure to PHs increased Ss' psychological symptoms, and none of the Ss' psychological CMs were effective in mitigating this relationship.