Anxiety Assessment in Polish Students during the Russian–Ukrainian War

Skwirczyńska, Edyta; Kozłowski, Mateusz; Nowak, Katarzyna; Wróblewski, O; Sompolska-Rzechuła, Agnieszka; Kwiatkowski, Sebastian; Cymbaluk‐Płoska, Aneta

doi:10.3390/ijerph192013284

Cited by 25 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In our previous article, we focused on the mental health burden of the RUW-22, represented by GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores for anxiety and depression [ 17 ]. All published studies—to date—that were concerned with the mental health aspects of RUW-22 had overlooked the role of nuclear anxiety as a potential trigger/mediator for psychologic disorders during this militant conflict [ 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The outbreak of the RUW-22 was widely apprehended by the European populations, especially those living in Central and Eastern European countries such as the Czech Republic [ 17 ], Poland [ 18 ], Germany [ 19 ], and Italy [ 20 ]. The brutal invasion of Russian troops of Ukraine in February 2022 reminded Czech citizens of what happened in August 1968 when Soviet tanks invaded Prague to abort the new progressive socioeconomic movement known as Prague Spring [ 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nuclear Anxiety Amid the Russian-Ukrainian War 2022 (RUW-22): Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Riad

Drobov

Alkasaby

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Nuclear anxiety, which refers to the fear of nuclear war and its consequences, is expected to increase amid the Russian–Ukrainian War of 2022 (RUW-22). This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of nuclear anxiety and its associated variables among university students in the Czech Republic during the first weeks of RUW-22. A cross-sectional survey-based study was carried out from March–April 2022, utilizing a digital self-administered questionnaire (SAQ) to collect data from the target population. The SAQ consisted of multiple-choice items inquiring about demographic characteristics; generalized anxiety symptoms using generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7); depressive symptoms using patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9); and attitudes towards civilian uses of nuclear power, and nuclear war-related anxiety. Of the 591 participating students, 67.7% were females, 68.2% were Czech nationals, and 61.8% followed the RUW-22 news at least once daily. The mean GAD-7 score of our participants was 7.86 ± 5.32 (0–21); and their mean PHQ-9 score was 8.66 ± 6.29 (0–27). Regarding the civilian uses of nuclear power, most participants agreed that nuclear power was safe (64.5%), denied being afraid that civilian use of nuclear power might deteriorate their health (79.7%), and thought that public acceptance was important for building new nuclear power plants (56.9%). About 42.1% and 45.5% of the participants reported feeling depressed at the possibility of nuclear war and agreed that the chances that there would be a nuclear war in their lifetime were very high, respectively. When asked about their preparedness measures during the previous four weeks, less than one quarter (23.9%) reported looking for recommendations for protection against nuclear accidents, and less than one-fifth (19.3%) were looking for the nearest bomb shelter. The depression about nuclear war possibility was positively and relatively strongly correlated with the level of “feeling concerned about the RUW-22” (rs = 0.401), and it was moderately correlated with GAD-7 (rs = 0.377) and PHQ-9 (rs = 0.274) scores and weakly correlated with RUW-2-related news-following frequency (rs = 0.196). Within the limitations of the present study, nuclear anxiety was common among Czech university students. Its associated factors may include but are not limited to the female gender; common psychological disorders such as generalized anxiety and depression; RUW-22-related news following-frequency; and the level of “feeling concerned”.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear Anxiety Amid the Russian-Ukrainian War 2022 (RUW-22): Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Riad

Drobov

Alkasaby

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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“…The war in Ukraine has also had a psychological impact by increasing anxiety and stress levels among citizens from neighboring countries to Ukraine [ 25 ]. Fear of nuclear radiation led to panic buying of iodine-containing drugs in Europe [ 26 ].…”

Section: Mental Health Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2023

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The Russian military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, resulted in the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. As a neighboring country to Ukraine, Poland was the main country to initially receive refugees. Between February 24, 2022, and February 24, 2023, 10.056 million refugees from Ukraine, mainly women and children, crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border. Up to 2 million of these refugees from Ukraine found shelter in private homes throughout Poland. More than 90% of the resident refugees in Poland were women and children, and approximately 900 000 refugees from Ukraine have sought employment, mainly in the services sector. Since February 2022, there has been rapid development of a national legal framework to ensure access to healthcare, including providing refugees who are healthcare workers with job opportunities. Epidemiological surveillance and prevention programs for infectious diseases and mental health support systems have been implemented. These initiatives have required the use of language translators to ensure that there are no barriers to understanding and implementing public health measures. Hopefully, the lessons learned from Poland and neighboring countries that have hosted millions of Ukrainian refugees can help future preparedness for supporting refugees. This review aims to summarize the lessons learned by the Polish public health services during the past year and outlines the public health initiatives that have been implemented and are still ongoing.

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“…This reinforces the extremity of gaining the new experience of adapting to life in the new reality. Experiencing of the threat of war in Ukraine caused a rise in anxiety, depression, despair, uncertainty, and reduced level of psychological wellbeing even in safe countries of Europe (Brągiel & Gambin, 2022;Hajek et al, 2022;Mărcău et al, 2022;Skwirczyńska et al, 2022). And in Ukraine the lives of tens of millions of people changed drastically after the full-scale Russian invasion of February 24, 2022.…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…You can correct some of their ideas in the comments or in personal messages" (5). They also consume information from the Russian sources, accounting for this with their inquisitiveness (5) or entertainment purposes (22).…”

Section: Optimistic Fatalist's Position (Transcripts -2 4 5 8 12 22)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Discourse of Daily Life during the War: the 2022 Ukrainian Projection

Klymanska

Klimanska

Haletska

2023

JECS

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Aim. To define and describe the positions of Ukrainians in their attitude to the war on Russia and reflection of this attitude in the discourse of daily life in wartime. Concept/Methods. 25 transcripts of semi-structured interviews subjected to thematic analysis. Relying on the categories identified through thematic analysis, the criteria differentiating the attitude of Ukrainians to the war, viz. personalization/depersonalization, media practice of content consumption, assessment of the so called “we-they-relationship”, reflection on the changes in daily life, the process of adaptation to changes, ideas of exemplary behavior were established. Results and conclusion. The analysis of the results enabled to outline the problematic field of assessment of the attitude of Ukrainians to the full-scale war on Russia and reflection of this attitude in the discourse of daily life in wartime. Relying on the criteria differentiating this attitude, three typical positions in the attitude of Ukrainians to the war were outlined – that of external observer, optimistic fatalist, and rational optimist. Practical application. Clarification of the specific characteristics of the attitude of Ukrainians to the war and perception of the enemy under such circumstances enables to envisage the public opinion response to certain decisions related to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, to plan communication campaigns promoting volunteer movement with due account of different positions taken by Ukrainians as well as to determine the degree of psycho-traumatizing of individuals in the crisis situation of war via discourse. Originality/Cognitive value. The study was conducted in October-November 2022, on the ninth month of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it reflects the thoughts of Ukrainian civilians concerning the war, its reasons, collective responsibility of Russians, and, finally, changes occurring in the life of the country and every individual, the process of adaptation to this complex situation. The use of quality methods (semi-structured interview) for the study ensured focusing on subjective peculiarities of the perception of war and daily life during in wartime. Conclusions: The typology of ideas, types of attitude of Ukrainians to the reality of war requires verification and further specification within a quantitative study aimed at clarification of quantitative figures representing the prevalence of the established positions.

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Anxiety Assessment in Polish Students during the Russian–Ukrainian War

Cited by 25 publications

References 44 publications

Nuclear Anxiety Amid the Russian-Ukrainian War 2022 (RUW-22): Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Nuclear Anxiety Amid the Russian-Ukrainian War 2022 (RUW-22): Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

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

The Discourse of Daily Life during the War: the 2022 Ukrainian Projection

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