B5: The Impact of War on Attitudes, Identities and Institutions

Based on an unusual interdisciplinary cooperation between social scientists and mental health researchers, this project has generated one of the first nationally representative panel surveys mapping the scale of trauma exposure among the civilian population in Ukraine. It has expanded the discussion about individual-level resilience in wartime. The majority of respondents report high levels of exposure to lifetime and war-related traumatic events. In wave one, every third person met the clinical criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) – 25% meet the criteria for PTSD, 6% those for CPTSD. This discrepancy suggests that models developed for post-conflict settings may have to be adjusted for the conditions of an ongoing war. The analysis shows that certain factors increase the likelihood of PTSD and CPTSD: being female, older age, lower educational levels, previous military service, displacement, a larger number of traumatic lifetime events as well as specific war-related stressors. The data also show that a majority of the population continues to function despite high levels of trauma exposure. In addition to an acute short-term and long-term need for investment in mental health services, the research also points to the importance of community support, social networks and population-level mental health initiatives. Utilising the panel component of the survey, the project also speaks to the underexplored link between trauma and political behaviour. In particular, CPTSD consistently correlates with negative views of incumbent political authorities, thereby pointing to an erosion in political trust linked to severe trauma.