Individual and contextual predictors of young Ukrainian adults' subjective well-being during the Russian–Ukrainian war

• Main Authors: Pavlova, Iuliia, Krauss, Steven, McGrath, Breeda, Cehajic‐Clancy, Sabina, Bodnar, Ivanna, Petrytsa, Petro, Synytsya, Tetiana, Zhara, Hanna
• Format: Article
• Published: Wiley 2023
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/110089/; https://iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aphw.12484

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is accompanied by horrific losses among civilians. This study investigates various individual (hope, optimism, resilience, post-traumatic growth, and coping strategies) and contextual predictors (experience of life under occupation, actively hostile home environment, and frequent moves) of subjective well-being among the youth living in Ukraine. A total sample of 593 students from several universities participated in the study using surveys that contained questions about sociodemographic characteristics, life satisfaction, hope, optimism, personal post-traumatic growth, resilience, and coping strategies. Data were analyzed using JAMOVI software. The level of dissatisfaction with their own lives was 34.7%; most of the respondents had a higher incidence of minimal/mild hopelessness (88.7%) and high/moderate level of optimism (60.9%). The majority of participants had moderate and high levels of post-traumatic growth (51.9% and 6.7%, respectively) and resilience (46.0% and 14.5%, respectively). Optimism, hope, resilience, post-traumatic growth, using emotional support, and life in occupation predicted life satisfaction among the study sample.