Lviv State University of Physical Culture, Lviv, Ukraine.
TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany.
Eur Psychiatry. 2022 Nov 21;65(1):e79. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.2335.
The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has led many Ukrainians to fight for their country, either in the regular army or as civilian members of voluntary territorial defense forces. There is, however, a dearth of knowledge on the mental health of combatants in this conflict. Prior research on the mental health of combatants is unlikely to translate to the situation at hand because such research is focused on combatants fighting abroad and neglects civilian combatants.
This study provides the first attempt to investigate the mental health of Ukrainian combatants in the regular army and voluntary territorial defense forces by analyzing the prevalence rates of common mental health issues, as well as their demographic and socioeconomic predictors.
Between March 19 and 31, 2022, the initial period of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a sample of 178 Ukrainian combatants (104 in the regular army and 74 civilian combatants) participated in a survey on symptoms of anxiety (GAD-2), depression (PHQ-2), and insomnia (ISI).
A sizable portion of Ukrainian combatants reached cut-off levels for clinical symptoms of anxiety (44·4%), depression (43·3%), and insomnia (12·4%). Importantly, the mental health of Ukrainian combatants varied between professional soldiers and civilian combatants, as well as by gender, marital status, by whether or not they were located in Russian-occupied/active-combat areas, and dependent on whether they were personally involved in combat. This study provides early evidence on the mental health of Ukrainian combatants, pointing to their urgent need for mental health assistance in the ongoing war.
俄罗斯对乌克兰的持续入侵导致许多乌克兰人为国而战，他们或是正规军的一员，或是志愿领土防御部队的平民成员。然而，人们对这场冲突中参战者的心理健康知之甚少。先前关于参战者心理健康的研究不太可能适用于当前的情况，因为这些研究侧重于在国外作战的参战者，而忽视了平民参战者。
本研究首次尝试通过分析常见心理健康问题的流行率，以及其人口统计学和社会经济预测因素，来调查乌克兰正规军和志愿领土防御部队中的乌克兰参战者的心理健康状况。
2022 年 3 月 19 日至 31 日，即俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的初始阶段，178 名乌克兰参战者（104 名正规军和 74 名平民参战者）参加了一项关于焦虑症（GAD-2）、抑郁症（PHQ-2）和失眠症（ISI）症状的调查。
相当一部分乌克兰参战者达到了焦虑症（44.4%）、抑郁症（43.3%）和失眠症（12.4%）的临床症状临界值。重要的是，乌克兰参战者的心理健康状况在职业军人和平民参战者之间存在差异，也因性别、婚姻状况、是否处于俄罗斯占领/活跃交战地区以及是否亲自参与战斗而有所不同。本研究提供了有关乌克兰参战者心理健康的早期证据，表明他们在持续的战争中迫切需要心理健康援助。
