IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i19p14230-d1248096.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Polish Population in the Context of the War in Ukraine: Analysis of Risk Factors and Practical Implications

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Kasierska

    (Department of Mental Health, Chair of Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-572 Poznan, Poland)

  • Julia Suwalska

    (Department of Treatment of Obesity, Metabolic Disorders and Clinical Dietetics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-569 Poznan, Poland)

  • Dorota Łojko

    (Department of Mental Health, Chair of Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-572 Poznan, Poland)

  • Marta Jakubiak-Głowacka

    (Department of Mental Health, Chair of Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-572 Poznan, Poland)

  • Sławomir Tobis

    (Department of Occupational Therapy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-781 Poznan, Poland)

  • Aleksandra Suwalska

    (Department of Mental Health, Chair of Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-572 Poznan, Poland)

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the intensity of depressive and anxiety symptoms in those indirectly affected by war in Ukraine and to identify a group of people at particular risk of developing these symptoms. The study encompassed 72 Poles (60 women and 12 men). The measurements were carried out at three time points: (1) in the first month after the outbreak of Russia’s war against Ukraine, (2) in the second month and (3) after six months of the conflict. During the first and second month, the symptom severity of generalized anxiety (GAD-7) was 9.8 ± 5.2 and 7.0 ± 5.6, state anxiety (STAI-X1) was 48.2 ± 10.4 and 45.2 ± 13.9 and depression (BDI) was 10.4 ± 7.5 and 15.4 ± 12.7. After six months, the symptom severity was statistically significantly lower. Greater symptom severity was observed in women, people with low income, those without a job, those who did not have good relationships with people they were close to, those with sleep problems and those who frequently followed the news and talked about the war. This study indicates that in a crisis situation, mental health screening and the identification of people whose condition requires specialized interventions are necessary.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Kasierska & Julia Suwalska & Dorota Łojko & Marta Jakubiak-Głowacka & Sławomir Tobis & Aleksandra Suwalska, 2023. "Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Polish Population in the Context of the War in Ukraine: Analysis of Risk Factors and Practical Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14230-:d:1248096
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14230/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14230/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edyta Skwirczyńska & Mateusz Kozłowski & Katarzyna Nowak & Oskar Wróblewski & Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła & Sebastian Kwiatkowski & Aneta Cymbaluk-Płoska, 2022. "Anxiety Assessment in Polish Students during the Russian–Ukrainian War," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-13, October.
    2. Magdalena Nowicka & Ewa Jarczewska-Gerc & Magdalena Marszal-Wisniewska, 2022. "Response of Polish Psychiatric Patients to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022―Predictive Role of Risk Perception and Temperamental Traits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Abanoub Riad & Anton Drobov & Martin Krobot & Natália Antalová & Muhammad Abdullatif Alkasaby & Aleš Peřina & Michal Koščík, 2022. "Mental Health Burden of the Russian–Ukrainian War 2022 (RUW-22): Anxiety and Depression Levels among Young Adults in Central Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-14, July.
    4. Abigail Abrash Walton & Janine Marr & Matthew J. Cahillane & Kathleen Bush, 2021. "Building Community Resilience to Disasters: A Review of Interventions to Improve and Measure Public Health Outcomes in the Northeastern United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-31, October.
    5. Damiano Rizzi & Giulia Ciuffo & Giulia Sandoli & Matteo Mangiagalli & Pietro de Angelis & Gioele Scavuzzo & Mariana Nych & Marta Landoni & Chiara Ionio, 2022. "Running Away from the War in Ukraine: The Impact on Mental Health of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Refugees in Transit in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-12, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Magdalena Nowicka & Ewa Jarczewska-Gerc & Magdalena Marszal-Wisniewska, 2022. "Response of Polish Psychiatric Patients to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022―Predictive Role of Risk Perception and Temperamental Traits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Abanoub Riad & Anton Drobov & Muhammad Abdullatif Alkasaby & Aleš Peřina & Michal Koščík, 2023. "Nuclear Anxiety Amid the Russian-Ukrainian War 2022 (RUW-22): Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-13, February.
    3. Andriy Haydabrus & Mikel Santana-Santana & Yuriy Lazarenko & Lydia Giménez-Llort, 2022. "Current War in Ukraine: Lessons from the Impact of War on Combatants’ Mental Health during the Last Decade," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-9, August.
    4. Katarzyna Karakiewicz-Krawczyk & Krzysztof Zdziarski & Marek Landowski & Agnieszka Nieradko-Heluszko & Artur Kotwas & Paweł Szumilas & Anna Knyszyńska & Beata Karakiewicz, 2022. "The Opinions of Poles about the Need to Provide Humanitarian Aid to Refugees from the Area Covered by the Russian–Ukrainian War," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-14, October.
    5. Edyta Skwirczyńska & Mateusz Kozłowski & Katarzyna Nowak & Oskar Wróblewski & Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła & Sebastian Kwiatkowski & Aneta Cymbaluk-Płoska, 2022. "Anxiety Assessment in Polish Students during the Russian–Ukrainian War," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-13, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14230-:d:1248096. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.