Psychological well-being in Europe after the outbreak of war in Ukraine

Abstract

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has had devastating effects on the Ukrainian population and the global economy, environment, and political order. However, little is known about the psychological states surrounding the outbreak of war, particularly the mental well-being of individuals outside Ukraine. Here, we present a longitudinal experience-sampling study of a convenience sample from 17 European countries (total participants = 1,341, total assessments = 44,894, countries with >100 participants = 5) that allows us to track well-being levels across countries during the weeks surrounding the outbreak ofwar.Our data showa significant decline inwell-being on the day of the Russian invasion. Recovery over the following weeks was associated with an individual’s personality butwas not statistically significantly associated with their age, gender, subjective social status, and political orientation. In general, well-being was lower on days when the war was more salient on social media. Our results demonstrate the need to consider the psychological implications of the Russo-Ukrainian war next to its humanitarian, economic, and ecological consequences.

Description

DATA AVAILABILITY : The raw and processed data that support the findings of this study are publicly available on the OSF (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/8F3YU). The data collection was part of the “Coping with Corona” project11, which includes additional variables that we did not consider in this manuscript.

Keywords

Consequences, War, Russia, Ukraine

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG-03: Good health and well-being
SDG-16: Peace,justice and strong institutions

Citation

Scharbert, J., Humberg, S., Kroencke, L. et al. 2024, 'Psychological well-being in Europe after the outbreak of war in Ukraine', Nature Communications, vol. 15, art. 1202, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44693-6.