Ukrainian syndrome. Behavioral and functional changes in Ukrainian youth under the conditions of a 2022-Full-scale Russian invasion
Authors: Tolstoukhov Anatolii , Matiash Mykhailo , Subbota Spartak , Lunov Vitalii 
Published: January 2023

The Ukrainian syndrome is a certain behavioral pattern of adaptation and an individual position of a Ukrainian regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war. In this context, we proceeded from the model of the spatial-relational disposition of a traumatic event, which reflects the degree of objectivity of the loss / threat at the individual, family-related levels, and the level of the immediate environment (Lunov, 2022).

In the conditions of a sharp increase in mental and behavioral disorders caused by the Russian invasion, the system of providing mental care and departmental psychological services turned out to be such, at least in the first stages, that the established models of assessment and intervention need to be revised (Mosiichuk, Tkach, Lunov, 2022).

One of the reasons for this is that until today there are no generalizations in Ukraine regarding national norms of mental health and psychological well-being of young people. There is also a lack of research on the perception and understanding of the behavioral, functional, and psychosomatic changes experienced by young people under the influence of the prolonged Russian-Ukrainian war.

The purpose of our research is to determine the behavioral and psychosomatic changes and risks perceived by Ukrainian youth due to the prolonged Russian-Ukrainian war, in the time perspective after the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.

Materials and methods

The “Scale of non-clinical assessment of behavioral changes and social functioning” (block A, B. Rate on a scale: -1 means this sign used to be characteristic of me, but now it has disappeared, or it does not bother me; 0 means I practically do not feel it, or it is absent; 1 means there are certain signs, but they do not significantly affect life and well-being; 2 means the manifestation of this sign is strong; 3 means I feel exhausted and disorganized), and the Questionnaire of the experience of being in a combat zone developed by Vitalii Lunov were used in the study. The study was conducted from April 2022 to January 2023.

4694 youth and young scientists aged 16 to 40 from 61 cities of Ukraine took part in the research.

The conducted research demonstrates the generalization of descriptive statistics of behavioral, functional, and psychosomatic changes experienced by Ukrainian youth in the conditions of the protracted Russian-Ukrainian war.

According to the obtained results, it can be stated that the following behavioral and functional patterns of Ukrainian youth require the attention of psychologists:

- behavior characterized by increased fatigue, exhaustion, weakening or loss of ability to prolonged physical or mental stress, irritability, frequent mood swings, tearfulness, moodiness, vegetative disorders.

- behavior characterized by subjective experiences (feelings of anxiety, own inferiority, fear of heights, closed spaces, obsessive thoughts, memories, etc.), somatic and vegetative disorders (disturbed sleep, poor appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.).

- indecisiveness and tendency to excessive reasoning, alarming incredulity, ease of forming obsessive fears, apprehensions, actions, rituals, thoughts, ideas.

- decrease in vital activity.

- mental health problems.

- significant changes in habitual behavior.

We remind you that the obtained results are based on the respondents’ self-reports. However, the most significant thing for us is the youth’s self-awareness of their behavioral, psychosomatic, and functional changes.

Such awareness becomes the basis for understanding the new norm of life during the war.