Ukraine has been embroiled in an increasing war since February 2022. In addition to Ukrainians, the Russo-Ukraine war has affected Poles due to the refugee crisis and the Taiwanese, who are facing a potential crisis with China. We examined the mental health status and associated factors in Ukraine, Poland, and Taiwan. The data will be used for future reference as the war is still ongoing. From March 8 to April 26, 2022, we conducted an online survey using snowball sampling techniques in Ukraine, Poland, and Taiwan. Depression, anxiety, and stress were measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (DASS)-21 item scale; post-traumatic stress symptoms by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and coping strategies by the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE). We used multivariate linear regression to identify factors significantly associated with DASS-21 and IES-R scores. There were 1626 participants (Poland: 1053; Ukraine: 385; Taiwan: 188) in this study. Ukrainian participants reported significantly higher DASS-21 (p < 0.001) and IES-R (p < 0.01) scores than Poles and Taiwanese. Although Taiwanese participants were not directly involved in the war, their mean IES-R scores (40.37 ± 16.86) were only slightly lower than Ukrainian participants (41.36 ± 14.94). Taiwanese reported significantly higher avoidance scores (1.60 ± 0.47) than the Polish (0.87 ± 0.53) and Ukrainian (0.91 ± 0.5) participants (p < 0.001). More than half of the Taiwanese (54.3%) and Polish (80.3%) participants were distressed by the war scenes in the media. More than half (52.5%) of the Ukrainian participants would not seek psychological help despite a significantly higher prevalence of psychological distress. Multivariate linear regression analyses found that female gender, Ukrainian and Polish citizenship, household size, self-rating health status, past psychiatric history, and avoidance coping were significantly associated with higher DASS-21 and IES-R scores after adjustment of other variables (p < 0.05). We have identified mental health sequelae in Ukrainian, Poles, and Taiwanese with the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war. Risk factors associated with developing depression, anxiety, stress, and post-traumatic stress symptoms include female gender, self-rating health status, past psychiatric history, and avoidance coping. Early resolution of the conflict, online mental health interventions, delivery of psychotropic medications, and distraction techniques may help to improve the mental health of people who stay inside and outside Ukraine.

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Background: The 2022 War in Ukraine has significantly affected the psychological well-being and daily lives of people in many countries. Objective: Two aims of this transnational study were (1) to compare psychological distress and coping strategies among people living in Ukraine, Poland, and Taiwan, (2) to examine whether the associations between various coping strategies (ie. problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and avoidance) and psychological distress (ie. depression, anxiety, stress, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and hopelessness about the ongoing war) differed among people of various countries during the initial stage of the 2022 War in Ukraine. Method: In total, 1,598 participants (362 from Ukraine, 1,051 from Poland, and 185 from Taiwan) were recruited using an online advertisement to complete online survey questionnaires, including the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory; the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale; the Impact of Event Scale-Revised; and a questionnaire devised to assess the level of hopelessness about the ongoing war. Results: Psychological distress and adoption of coping strategies differed across people of various countries. Among Taiwanese and Polish respondents, avoidant coping strategies were most strongly associated with all categories of psychological distress compared with problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies. However, the associations of various coping strategies with psychological distress differed to a less extent among Ukrainian respondents. In addition, problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies had comparable associations with psychological distress among the people of Ukraine, Poland, and Taiwan. Conclusions: The 2022 War in Ukraine has affected the psychological well-being of people, especially the Ukrainians. Because of the strong association between the adoption of avoidance coping strategies and psychological distress, despite a less extent among Ukrainian respondents, adaptive coping strategies such as (problem- and emotion-focused) are suggested to help people during times of war.

Background Ukraine has been embroiled in an increasingly war since February 2022. In addition to Ukrainians, the Russo-Ukraine war has affected Poles due to the refugee crisis and the Taiwanese, who are facing a potential crisis with China. We examined the mental health status and associated factors in Ukraine, Poland and Taiwan. The data will be used for future reference as the war is still ongoing. Methods From March 8 to April 26, 2022, we conducted an online survey using snowball sampling techniques in Ukraine, Poland and Taiwan. Depression, anxiety and stress were measured using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress (DASS)-21 item scale; post-traumatic stress symptoms by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and coping strategies by the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE). We used univariate and multivariate linear regression to identify factors associated with DASS-21 and IES-R scores. Results There were 1625 participants (Poland: 1053; Ukraine: 385; Taiwan: 188) in this study. Ukrainian participants reported significantly higher DASS-21 (p < 0.001) and IES-R (p < 0.01) scores than Poles and Taiwanese. Although Taiwanese participants were not directly involved in the war, their mean IES-R scores (40.37 ± 16.86) were only slightly lower than Ukrainian participants (41.36 ± 14.94), and Taiwanese were associated with higher IES-R scores (p = 0.029) after adjustment of other variables. Taiwanese reported significantly higher avoidance score (1.60 ± 0.47) than the Polish (0.87 ± 0.53) and Ukrainian (0.91 ± 0.5) participants (p < 0.001). More than half of the Taiwanese (54.3%) and Polish (80.3%) participants were distressed by the war scenes in the media. More than half (52.5%) of the Ukrainian participants would not seek psychological help despite a significantly higher prevalence of psychological distress. Multivariate linear regression analyses found that female gender, Ukrainian citizenship, self-rating health status, past psychiatric history and avoidance coping were significantly associated with higher DASS-21 and IES-R scores after adjustment of other variables (p < 0.05). Conclusion We have identified mental health sequelae in Ukrainian, Poles and Taiwanese with the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war. Risk factors associated with developing depression, anxiety, stress and post-traumatic stress symptoms include female gender, self-rating health status, past psychiatric history and avoidance coping. Early resolution of the conflict, online mental health interventions, delivery of psychotropic medications and distraction techniques may help to improve the mental health of people who stay inside and outside Ukraine.

The present study aimed to investigate the factors associated with the level of rumination about the war among people living in Poland and Ukraine. This cross‐sectional study recruited internet users from advertisements on social media. Levels of rumination, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), Impact of Event Scale‐Revised (IES‐R), time spent on news of the war, and related demographic variables were collected. The reliability and construct validity of rumination were estimated. Potential factors associated with the level of rumination were identified using univariate linear regression analysis, and further entered into a stepwise multivariate linear regression model to identify independent factors. Due to the non‐normality of distribution, multivariate linear regression with 5000 bootstrap samples was used to verify the results. A total of 1438 participants were included in the analysis, of whom 1053 lived in Poland and 385 lived in Ukraine. The questionnaires on rumination were verified to have satisfactory reliability and validity. After analysis with stepwise and bootstrap regression, older age, female gender, higher DASS and IES‐R scores, and longer time spent on news of the war were significantly associated with higher levels of rumination for both people living in Poland and Ukraine. Lower self‐rated health status, history of chronic medical illness and coronavirus disease 2019 infection were also positively associated with rumination for people living in Poland. We identified several factors associated with the level of rumination about the Russo‐Ukrainian War. Further investigations are warranted to understand how rumination affects individuals’ lives during crises such as war.