Mind frames: Ukrainians' perceptions of mental health and psychological support through the lens of resilience

Rating Group and UNICEF Ukraine have published the results of a joint large-scale study on the mental health of Ukrainians. ‘Mind frames’ is a unique project within the framework of the All-Ukrainian mental health programme ‘How are you?’ (an initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska).

Rating Lab carried out the research part — they developed a special methodology, surveyed about 12,000 Ukrainians and found out the following:

• how psychologically resilient Ukrainians are;
• what helps them adapt to stress;
• how Ukrainians feel about psychological support.

The study focused on five target audiences: parents of children aged 0-9; children aged 10-17 and their parents; young people aged 18-25 and other adults aged 25+. A special methodology and survey method allows for a direct comparison of the responses of parents and their children.

Stress and its triggers

• Almost half of Ukrainians (47%) have high or elevated stress levels. At the same time, 73% of Ukrainians are generally resilient to stress. This helps them adapt to constantly stressful living conditions.
• The main triggers of stress in adults aged 18+ are financial difficulties, sirens and loud noises, news and arguments with loved ones (29%). Young people aged 18-25 also often mention feelings of being ignored, ridiculed and bullied.
• For children aged 10-17, the main triggers are exams, tests and quizzes, arguments with parents/loved ones, being ignored and avoided (28%), ridicule and bullying (28%), sirens and loud/sharp noises.

Adaptability to stress

Adaptability is an experimental indicator of the interaction between stress and resilience. It shows how effectively a person responds to stressful conditions and situations.

• Less than half of Ukrainians (45%) are adapted to stress, i.e. they have both low stress and high resilience.
• Another 35% are partially adapted, and 20% are not adapted.

Parents, children, family

• 52% of those who have a partner, children and live together (i.e. their own family) are adapted, among them are the fewest maladapted (18%). Among those who do not have children and a partner, on the contrary, only 39% are adapted and 23% are maladapted.
• Parents' perceptions of their children's emotions differ significantly from the children's self-reflection: children experience joy much more often than their parents say.
• Communication within the family is very important. The more often children aged 10-17 communicate with their parents, the more adapted they are to stress. Parents help their children a lot when, during a stressful event, they talk to them about their feelings, share their experiences, explain what is happening, and hug them.
• Having a shared hobby helps both children and parents adapt. 57% of children have a shared hobby with their parents. This has an even stronger effect on parents: 64% of parents who share a hobby with their children are adaptable to stress.

What hobbies help you be more resilient?

• Having a hobby is an important factor in adapting to stress. They allow you to ‘reboot’ and develop resilience mechanisms in response to the challenges of life in times of war.
• In all age groups, those who do not have a hobby are less adapted to stress.
• The most resourceful activities are those that involve physical activity.
• The least resourceful hobbies are those related to devices and gadgets (computers, phones). It is in these activities that we often see the lowest resilience.

Attitude towards psychological assistance

• More than half of Ukrainians have a positive attitude towards psychological assistance (57%), while the remaining 47% are critical.
• The most positive attitude is among women aged 18-29.

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The study was conducted in collaboration with the Oleksandr Yaremenko Ukrainian Institute for Social Research and the Institute for Behavioural Research at American University Kyiv.