The impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the mental health of Italian people after 2 years of the pandemic: risk and protective factors as moderators

Abstract

ObjectiveThis contribution aimed at investigating the moderating role of risk (e.g., the negative influence of COVID-19 on mental health) and protective (e.g., post-traumatic growth) factors on the relationship between the concern for war and stress and anxiety/depression levels among Italian people.MethodsA questionnaire that included sociodemographic characteristics, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and questions formulated ad hoc about concern for war was administered online. A sample of 755 participants (65.4% females, mean age = 32.39, SD = 12.64, range = 18–75) was recruited by convenience and snowball sampling. The researchers spread the link to the questionnaire to their acquaintances asking them to fill it out and to recruit other people.ResultsResults showed that concern for war significantly augmented the levels of stress and anxiety/depression in Italian people. Being a healthcare professional or having a chronic illness negatively moderated the effect of concern for war on stress and anxiety/depression. Instead, the negative influence of COVID-19 on mental health positively moderated the effect of concern for war on stress. Moreover, the overall positive changes after trauma and four of its five scales (i.e., Relating to Others, New Possibilities, Personal Strength, and Spiritual Change), negatively moderated the effect of concern for war on anxiety/depression.ConclusionsIn conclusion, concern about the Russian-Ukrainian war affects the mental health of the Italian population even if they are not directly involved in the conflict.

How Is the Fear of War Impacting Italian Young Adults’ Mental Health? The Mediating Role of Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty

“…The present study investigated the indirect psychological impact of war on mental health in a sample of Italian young adults considering the direct influence of Fear of War on psychological distress on the one hand and, on the other, the mediating effect that Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty play in this relationship. The findings suggest that Fear of War positively predicts Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, and the results are in line with recent studies conducted in contexts that are not directly involved in warfare [48,49], including some Italian ones that exclusively explore the general impact of war without using the specific construct of Fear of War [51,52]. Results of parallel mediation models show that Fear of War is increasing Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty levels, significantly affecting psychological distress, and potentiating the impact of Fear of War on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression with a significant indirect effect.…”

“…Recent studies have highlighted how the Russian-Ukrainian war is generating repercussions on mental health even in the Italian context, fueling, on the one hand, specific concerns associated with the indirect consequences of the war on the economic level and the cost of living [28,51] and, on the other, the levels of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in the general population, already affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic [52]. Nonetheless, the indirect psychological impact of war on mental health remains partly unexplored, particularly in young adults.…”

“…Thus, it is now evident that, like all collective traumatic events, war impacts psychological well-being, fueling worries and anxieties, but also the fear of the unknown and a sense of uncertainty [10,[51][52][53]. These complex mental states are associated with the dispositional component of Intolerance of Uncertainty, which is defined as a set of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses that the individual implements to cope with ambiguous and uncertain daily situations [54,55].…”

Areas of Concern and Support among the Austrian General Population: A Qualitative Content Analytic Mapping of the Shift between Winter 2020/21 and Spring 2022

“…Most participants reported anxieties such as the possibility of the war between Russia and Ukraine spreading to other European countries, or it being the cause of World War III or a nuclear risk. Previous studies focusing on the impact of the Russian–Ukrainian war on people’s mental health demonstrated a high experienced risk of nuclear war [ 31 ] and war-related concerns increasing stress, anxiety, and depression levels in populations not directly involved in the conflict [ 32 , 33 ].…”

Emotion regulation shows an age- and sex-specific moderating effect on the relationship between chronic stress and cognitive performance

“…In today's rapidly changing world, affected in recent years by several major crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the related energy and cost of living crises, individuals are invariably exposed to various stressors. This commonly leads to increased experience of stress 1 – 3 . Defined as a state of threatened homeostasis following exposure to extrinsic or intrinsic adverse forces 4 , this stress can negatively affect daily functioning.…”