WAR AND WELL-BEING: MENTAL HEALTH SLEEP AND COPING AMONG UKRAINIANS AT HOME AND ABROAD

Objectives: This study investigated mental health, sleep, coping, and psychological state among Ukrainians during wartime, comparing those who remained in Ukraine and those who left. It aimed to identify key psychological predictors to inform targeted interventions during prolonged crises.Methods: Pearson’s correlation assessed associations between mental health and psychological factors. One-way ANOVA examined differences by mental health level, MANOVA compared groups by location, and multiple regression identified key predictors.Results: Mental health among Ukrainians was relatively low: 46.6% reported low levels. Those abroad showed greater tolerance of uncertainty (M = 65.91 vs. 64.75) and used more task-oriented coping (M = 59.11 vs. 54.97) than those in Ukraine. Mental health negatively correlated with anxiety (r = -0.604), frustration (r = -0.612), rigidity (r = -0.500), and emotion-oriented coping (r = -0.524), insomnia (r = -0.367), and positively with task-oriented coping (r = 0.357) and stress resilience (r = -0.396). Key predictors included avoidance (β = 0.251) and stress resilience (β = -0.183) as positive, and frustration (β = -0.188), emotion-oriented coping (β = -0.199), and anxiety (β = -0.194) as negative. Psychological states varied by mental health level: those with low mental health reported the highest anxiety, frustration, aggressiveness, rigidity, insomnia, and lowest resilience. Their coping was dominated by emotion-oriented strategies.Conclusions: With 46.6% of Ukrainians showing low mental health and only 21.6% reporting high mental health, these findings highlight the urgent need for differentiated psychological support during wartime.