Mental health symptoms and coping strategies among Ukrainians during the Russia-Ukraine war in March 2022

Abstract

Context: The Russian attack on Ukraine has been ongoing since February 24, 2022. Nevertheless, no research has documented the mental health of Ukrainians during the biggest land war in Europe after the Second World War, or how Ukrainians cope with the impact of the war. Objectives: To provide the prevalence rates of symptoms of psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia; and to link them with Ukrainians’ productive coping strategies during the war. Design, setting, and participants: Online survey conducted in Ukraine during the initial period of the Russian invasion (March 19–31, 2022), using a quota sampling method, of 1,400 Ukrainians aged 18 years or older, with a total of 801 valid responses for a response rate of 57.2%. Main outcome measures: Psychological distress assessed by the Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K6); anxiety assessed by Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) scale; depression assessed by Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2); insomnia assessed by Insomnia Severity Index-4 (ISI-4); modes of coping assessed by Brief COPE. Results: Of 801 Ukrainian adults, 52.7% had symptoms of psychological distress (mean = 13.3 [ SD = 4.9]); 54.1% of them reported symptoms of anxiety (mean = 2.9 [ SD = 1.7]); 46.8% reported symptoms of depression (mean = 2.6 [ SD = 1.6]). Symptom criteria for insomnia were met by 97 respondents (12.1%) (mean = 10.4 [ SD = 4.2]). Demographic variables (including gender, living in an urban area, having children or elderly persons in the household, living in an area occupied by Russian forces) were associated with symptoms of distress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. The productive coping strategies of using instrumental support, behavioral disengagement, self-distraction, and planning were significantly associated with mental health symptoms. Conclusions: Prevalence rates of symptoms of psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia were high. These findings underscore the need for healthcare and productive coping strategies for Ukrainians during the war.

Disability and post-traumatic stress symptoms in the Ukrainian General Population during the 2022 Russian Invasion

“…As has been seen in other military conflicts, this has had a serious deleterious impact on the mental health of affected populations (Charlson et al ., 2019 ; Mesa-Vieira et al ., 2022 ). Data collected in the early weeks of the 2022 invasion found that 52.7% of respondents reported psychological distress, while 54.1%, 46.8% and 12.1% indicated significant levels of anxiety, depression and insomnia, respectively (Xu et al ., 2023 ). The ongoing conflict has also led to the substantial displacement of populations within Ukraine, with this population at risk of additional burden on their psychological health.…”

Providing Inclusive Primary School Education for Children with Special Educational Needs in Wartime Ukraine: Challenges and Current Solutions

“…Taking into account the data obtained from this study and the recently published evidence on the prevalence of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression among Ukrainian adults soon after the Russian invasion [38], mental health professionals reasonably insisted that it was crucial to provide warexposed people with relevant rapid and easily accessible crisis interventions [40][41][42] and psychological first-aid self-care courses [39] in early months of the war. In our research, more than half of inclusion providers reported that they already supported themselves using psychological self-care skills, which was positively associated with higher resilience and satisfaction with school administrators.…”

“…Up to two-thirds of the surveyed inclusion providers faced various challenges in their work setting in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, similar to other respondents among primary school teachers. The abrupt increase in workload, the extended work assignments, and the changed composition of students' groups, along with their personal psychological response to the war, contributed to the situation of uncertainty and the upheaval in the usual course of life, requiring urgent searches for new forms of activity, sense, values, social interactions [37] and ways to cope, including regaining the ability to plan [38]. Compared to the control group, fewer inclusion providers succeeded in maintaining their usual pre-war workload of non-educational assignments or managed to combine volunteering organized by their schools with personally initiated volunteering.…”

One Year On: Poland’s Public Health Initiatives and National Response to Millions of Refugees from Ukraine

“…Several recent studies have reported that the Russian military invasion of Ukraine significantly impacted mental health, including increased psychological distress, anxiety, and sleeping disorders [ 23 , 24 ]. Post-traumatic stress disorder was reported to occur among those displaced both inside and outside Ukraine [ 24 ].…”