Scientific study on well-being and psychological health of Ukrainian people in times of war and forced migration
Russia's military aggression against Ukraine is causing destruction, stress and suffering to the Ukrainian people.
Both, Ukrainians who have been staying in Ukraine and those who were forced to go abroad are exposed to a large number of stressors that have immediate and long-term consequences. This includes not only separation from or even loss of loved ones, violence, inadequate living conditions, food insecurity, psychological stress, trauma, and health problems, but often also a lack of access to healthcare, education, and social, legal, and psychological assistance.
We, a team of Ukrainian and Swiss researchers, investigate how Ukrainian people experience and master the current adversities that arise from war and forced migration. We cordially invite you to participate in this study.
1. What is the purpose of this study?
In order to improve psychosocial support and psychological assistance, it is necessary to investigate the difficult living conditions and stressors Ukrainian people are exposed to.
Therefore, we want to investigate how life in Ukraine under the circumstances of war or as a refugee in another country affects the psychological health and well-being of Ukrainian people.
We want to explore how Ukrainians master their daily life challenges and cope with stressors they face day by day. In addition, we want to find out which experiences, personal characteristics, and resources may help to overcome current adversities and improve psychological health and well-being in the future.
1.1. Who conducts the research?
We are a team of Ukrainian and Swiss psychologists at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). The researchers responsible for this study are Dr. Peter Wilhelm, and Prof. Dr. Larysa Spitsyna, PhD (e-mail contacts: peter.wilhelm@unifr.ch; larysa.spitsyna@unifr.ch).
1.2. Who can participate?
You are cordially invited to participate in the study if you are Ukrainian and at least 18 years old. You may currently live in Ukraine or in another country.
2. How is the study conducted?
Our study is based on online questionnaires that can be completed on a computer, tablet, smartphone or i-phone. The study consists of two parts:
- A basic questionnaire about your current situation, your perception of stressful events and how to cope with them, personal characteristics and resources (to be completed once),
- a structured diary to be completed every evening during one week.
Please read the information on this website before you activate the online questionnaires. By activating the link of the online questionnaires, you confirm, that you are informed about the purpose and procedure of this study and that you wish to participate on a voluntary basis.
2.1 The Basic Questionnaire
In this questionnaire you find questions regarding the following topics:
- What is your current living situation?
- What changes have occurred since the outbreak of the war?
- How did you cope with stressors related to the war and migration to another region or country?
- How have you felt during the last weeks? Have you had problems or complaints?
- What personal characteristics and resources do you have, that might help you to cope with stress?
- How do you see the future?
This questionnaire is to be completed once. It will take 30 - 40 minutes to answer the questions. Link to the questionnaire:
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/128573?lang=uk
2.2 Evening diary (to be completed every evening for 7 consecutive days)
We created an evening diary to capture what affects your daily experience and behavior. For 7 days in a row, questions related to the current day are answered at each evening:
- How did you feel during the day? Were there any special or emotionally stressful events?
- Where, how, and with whom did you spend your time?
- How did you sleep? What did you eat and drink?
- Was there anything you could be grateful for?
Duration: 10-15 min.
Below are separate links for 7 days. With each link you can activate the diary of a particular day. Please complete the diary every evening before you go to bed. Please complete the evening diary for 7 days. If you miss to complete the diary at one day, you may just complete the diary at another evening. It would be great for us to receive 7 days of diary entries.
Evening Diary, Day 1
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/828925?lang=uk
Evening Diary, Day 2
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/818284?lang=uk
Evening Diary, Day 3
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/197924?lang=uk
Evening Diary, Day 4
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/971656?lang=uk
Evening Diary, Day 5
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/949132?lang=uk
Evening Diary, Day 6
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/6?lang=uk
Evening Diary, Day 7
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/7?lang=uk
2.3 Continuation of the study
We plan to repeat the data collection in the future when the war will be over. We sincerely hope that this will be soon. Continuing the study will allow us to better identify the factors that will help Ukrainians to overcome the current hardships of war and forced migration and improve their psychological well-being and health.
Your answers to the questions will be anonymous. However, we invite you to leave us your e-mail address so that we can send you the results of the current study and provide information about the continuation of the study. Your email will not be linked to the answers you give in the questionnaires.
Once we receive your e-mail, we will send you a list with Internet links that provide useful information and tips on how to deal with stress and how to improve your well-being.
Please enter your email address here:
https://survey.unifr.ch/index.php/915128?lang=uk
After submitting your e-mail, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. If you do not receive an e-mail from the University of Fribourg within the next days, you may have made a mistake when entering your e-mail or your spam filter may have blocked our confirmation email.
We will delete all participant e-mails, after we have completed data collection for this study.
3. What are the benefits of participating in the study?
By participating in this study, you will help us to investigate how war and forced migration affect the daily life and well-being of Ukrainian people.
In addition, you will contribute to a better understanding of factors that help Ukrainian people to cope with everyday challenges and stressors and enable them to overcome adversities and improve their future well-being.
Finally, your contribution might help to improve psychosocial support and mental health services.
If you leave us your e-mail address (see section 2.3.) or send an e-mail to larysa.spitsyna@unifr.ch, we will send you a list of Internet links with useful information and self-help programs.
4. Are there any risks or side effects?
The questionnaire and the evening diary include questions about stressful events that you may have experienced. As a rule, such questions are a useful reflection on your own experience.
If these questions trigger negative thoughts and feelings, you can take a break and focus your attention on something positive.
If you are overwhelmed by negative feelings, you can seek psychological support and call one of the numbers listed below (point 9).
5. Does participating in the study affect your life, are there any commitments?
It will take you some time to answer the questionnaire and complete the evening diary. One effect of the study could be that the questions might stimulate reflections that may lead to changes in your attitudes or behaviors. These changes are usually minor and do not last long. The study does not imply obligations.
6. When can participation in the study be terminated?
Participation in the study is voluntary and not compensated. You can terminate your participation at any time without giving a reason. Premature termination of participation in the study will not have negative consequences for you.
If you do not want us to use the data you have entered, you can write an e-mail and inform us that you want to get your data deleted. Since the data collection is completely anonymous, we can only delete your data if you send us the code you created at the beginning of the questionnaire. You can ask us to delete your data within one week after entering it.
7. How will the data be used?
Data collection is anonymous. It will not be possible to draw conclusions about individual participants.
8. Activation of the online questionnaires.
If you would like to participate in this study, click on the appropriate link to open the questionnaire (2.1.) or the evening diary (2.2.).
9. Where can you get help or support if you feel unwell or have psychological problems?
If you have problems or feel unwell, do not hesitate to call one of the numbers below.
10. Support for the study
Please help us to disseminate information about the study, by sending the link of this site to your family, friends, and colleagues, and by posting it at your social media accounts.
This study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Please contact us if you have any further questions related to this study.
Dr. Peter Wilhelm (peter.wilhelm@unifr.ch)
Prof. Dr. Larysa Spitsyna larysa.spitsyna@unifr.ch)
Chair of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
Department of Psychology
University of Fribourg
Rue de Faucigny 2
CH-1700 Fribourg